


The Elephant in the Room

by chaucer345



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Lesbian Character, Mystery, One way crush, Religion, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2018-12-23 23:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12000618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaucer345/pseuds/chaucer345
Summary: Francine Pennington has had a hard life, but that's to be expected when one is rejected by their parents. It's not until her mother dies that she even considers interacting with the blood kin that disposed of her.But the circumstances of her mother's demise were not entirely innocent. And when the police precinct's star officer goes in to investigate, the evidence does not look good for Francine...A murder mystery mixed with romance, and a look into what it's like to be the largest animal in a city built too small for you.





	1. Time to Wake Up!

Chapter 1

"TIME TO WAKE UP! TIME TO WAKE UP! TIME TO WAKE UP FRANCINE!"

I groaned, turning my head ever so slightly to the five rat children chanting in my ear. There was a primal part of me that wanted to smash them to bits, but it was quickly hushed by their adorable little beady eyes and smiling faces.

I chuckled, giving them a very careful jostle with my trunk, "Morning you little zoning violations."

My alarm clock went off and the kids scampered away from the noise. I shut down the infernal contraption and lifted myself up, slipping over to the kitchen to brush my teeth.

Fun fact, elephant sized showers are _ridiculously_ expensive, and my low-rent apartment complex could hardly afford them. They could barely afford an elephant sized toilet in the communal bathroom downstairs.

So I showered at work and my itsy bitsy rhino sized closet of a bathroom was left to my flat mates, speaking of which...

Carly smirked at me from the kitchen counter. "Morning sleepy head. Coffee's ready."

I thanked the Lost Celestial for the short haired rat's coffee bean hoisting biceps and poured myself a cup. A few sips in and I was feeling a lot better about today. I smirked at Carly. "So... How did date night go?" Vicarious romance kept me sane, even if it was with a married couple.

Carly smirked. "You know it wouldn't be polite to kiss Danielle and tell..."

I grinned. "But I'm guessing you kissed more than one set of lips last night?"

The rat's fur slicked. "Francine! The kids are still here."

I grimaced. "Sorry, need more caffeine in me." I chugged the mug down and picked up my toothbrush. It was long past time I got into gear.

"Oh, and your sister called." Carly mentioned, off hand.

I stopped brushing. "And... you hung up on her?"

The rat grinned. "Not before I told her to go fuck herself."

I smiled. "Careful Carly, the kids are still here."

That said, I finished up in the kitchen and  threw on my uniform with practiced efficiency. I'd have to hurry if I wanted to get to the elevated train for my morning shift.

But... Not before I got a rumble from Nandi.

 _Francine!_ She rumbled.

I sighed. _Yes Nandi?_

... Okay, so I just realized that some people who aren't elephants might be reading this, so let me explain rumbling real quick.

So, we elephants are capable of producing a heck of a lot of low frequency sounds, and low frequency sounds travel a really, really long distance. Not as much in a big city as in the open plains, but it still works to some extent. Why can we get away with calling out to each other across the city while wolf howls are super banned?

Well, the vast majority of animals can't really hear our rumbles, so they don't tend to bother people so much.

Carly once asked if it was some kind of telepathy or something, but it's a lot more like people yelling at you to turn down the damn music so they can sleep.

Speaking of which...

 _Do you remember where I put my keys?_ Nandi asked.

I rolled my eyes. _You have a spare pair under the statuette by your door._

 _Oh! Right! By the way, will you be at temple this month?_ She asked.

She asked me this practically every morning. _Yes Nandi._

_Okay! Have a good day then!_

_You too._ I rumbled. That said, I slipped out the door and tried my best to make up for lost time.

Moving through the streets of Zootopia was all about situational awareness. The vast majority of mammals were smaller than me, so my journey to the train station could only be described as 'hasty tip-toeing'

When I got to the train I sat myself down in the elephant car and ignored the hell out of the other commuters. The ones who knew me were doing their level best to ignore me, and most of the rest had their own crap to deal with.

I still got an odd glance or a slur thrown at me every once in a while. Frankly I didn't give a crap anymore.

I escaped that chilling social environment shortly and bounded my way up to the station. I always tried to get into the bull-pen early, not out of any particular fear of losing my seat (there were all of two elephant sized ones), but because A) punctuality was important and B)...

Well, that was when she came in.

Have you ever found someone who makes your heart beat faster? Someone who you find your gaze drifting towards even when there's another person talking to you? Someone who's smile makes you just light up inside?

For Carly, that was Danielle.

For me, maddeningly, it was Judy Hopps.

The rabbit waved to me from over her case file with a smile. "Good Morning Francine!"

I smiled back. "H-Hi!"

That was the extent of our conversations. She went back to file and I went to my seat. Far, far across the room from her.

I tried to focus on literally anything else.

It was very hard.

Fortunately the arrival of the other officers gave me plenty to distract myself... although strangely my partner was not among them.

The chief came in and started the morning announcements. "Alright! Alright! Sit!"  He tapped the bundle of papers in his hooves with practiced ease. "Now, officers Fangmeyer and Higgins, you will be..."

I'll admit, the remaining announcements blurred a bit. You can only hear the same assignments over and over for so long until they all start to blur together and you just-

"Pennington!"

I snapped to attention. "Yes sir!"

The Buffalo glared at me... Probably not out of any malice, that was just his resting face. "The Flu is going around. Officers Wilde and Trunkaby are out ill. You'll be teaming up with Hopps for Patrol in Savanah Central. Try not to step on her." That said he threw a file at me.

I blinked at him. _What?_

 _Just get out of my bullpen._ The chief's returning glare said.

I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth (sorry, that's racist) and made my way into the hallway.

The precinct's star officer wasn't far behind. She smiled at me (although I admit it seemed a bit forced) and held out a paw as a bump. "I guess we're together today... Ready to make the world a better place?"

I very, very carefully returned her paw bump and tried hard not to suppress a squeal.

#

Five minute later I was already fucking it up.

In my defense, I had never put a booster seat in the *front* before.

"Do you need some help?" Judy asked from behind me.

"Just a sec!" The seat snapped in with a satisfying clunk. I adjusted the height, made sure the cup holder was in place.

Bam! My cruiser was rabbit ready...

It had only taken me like twenty minutes of awkward fumbling.

#

Another ten minutes into our patrol route, the silence was killing me.

"So..." I said, experimentally. "You're from Bunnyburrow?"

Judy nodded. "Yes."

I kept my eyes on the road and tried not to sweat. "Uh... Yeah, sorry I guess that makes sense. A lot of bunnies are from there."

The girl of my dreams (and likely nothing else ever), blinked. "Um... Yeah, that's sort of why it's called Bunnyburrow."

Okay now I was definitely sweating. "Heh, right... I knew that. I just... Yeah."

The rabbit groaned, slumping in her booster seat. "Okay can we please cut through the awkwardness? It's officially killing me. I get it, you'd rather be out here with Trunkaby."

I snorted. "Oh fat chance!"

She blinked. "Huh?"

I risked a glance at her in the mirror. "Wait. You don't know?"

Okay, that perked her ears up. "Know what?"

I let out a breath. "Trunkaby's fine and all, but we aren't exactly soul mates." Not that he seemed to be able to take a hint on that, "We kind of just got shoved together because we're the only two elephants at the precinct. We use the same equipment."

Judy frowned in concentration. "I guess I hadn't thought about it that way. Kind of like how Nick and I are partners because we're the smallest on the force... And I didn't even get assigned one before he showed up." She twiddled her thumbs. "This is kind of  meeting of extremes huh?"

I sighed. "A little bit. You're not my smallest friend though." I blanched. Oh shit. I just called her a _friend_! What if she thought I was being presumptuous?

But that adorable little bunny just smiled. "Really, where did you meet your smaller friend?"

"Well..."

#

_Eight years ago:_

"Okay class! Today we have a pop quiz. Please clear off your desks and take out your number two pencils!"

I groaned internally. My uniform chafed, the Miss Tusking was being overly chipper again and my head was pounding.

I was never sneaking booze with Andy and his chump friends again...

At least on a school night.

I dug through my pockets, a mess of wadded tissues from my escapades last night... I must have gotten congested or something.

Blech, this was too much work, propriety get bent.

I emptied my pocket onto my desk, wadded tissues and all.

To my surprise, a disoriented rodent plopped out, clutching an empty bottle of Gin.

She woke up.

We both screamed.

#

"And then I got suspended, and we've been friends ever since." I finished.

The rabbit's eyes bugged out "She woke up... in your _pocket_?"

I made a vague gesture with my trunk. "I mean, she's a rat and she was hammered... Like five sheets to the wind at least. And I guess I just... You know, didn't notice when she crawled in?"

My diminutive coworker stared out the windshield, her face rather contorted in horror. "There exist people in this city who can do that. Climb into someone's pocket, and fall asleep without anyone being the wiser."

I scratched the back of my head. Zootopia was weird like that. "Yeah... it's kind of a security nightmare."

"I was more worried about getting _sat_ on." She said.

I narrowed my eyes. "Hey I am _very_ careful about where I put my butt."

There was a pause... Then we burst out laughing, the tension slowly draining. The little rabbit wiped away a tear. "Oh gods, the snark...  You're making me feel like I'm back with Nick."

I raised an eyebrow. "What's the deal with you and Nick anyway? Are you two...Together?" _Please don't be together, please don't be together..._

"We're not together." She said.

_Score!_

"But..." She bit her lip. "I won't deny there's an attraction there."

 _Fuck..._ "Oh..." I said, feeling my heart break, just a little.

She gripped her paws together, tightly. "Francine... Do you think I'm a freak?"

I balked. "What? No! God no! Judy you're talking to an openly gay elephant with cross species attractions. You are _not_ a freak..." I paused. "Well... At least not for that. No clue what you get up to in your spare time."

She snorted. "Fair enough... Huh, didn't know you were gay." She said it like she was commenting on the weather. Smaller mammals were like that.

I nodded. "Yup. Resident lesbian elephant at your service. And yes, I know the job makes me a bit of a stereotype, but hey, it pays the bills."

There was a pause. It felt like the car had just gotten ten degrees colder.

She look at me like I'd just stabbed her. "Pays the bills? _Pays the bills!?_ Francine, we do a hell of a lot more than that here! We save lives, we settle disputes, we make the world a better place!" She looked down. "Usually..."

I winced. "Jeeze Judy... Are you still beating yourself up about that?"

Her ears fell. It would have been adorable if it wasn't so sad. "I started a species war Francine, that's not the kind of thing you can just walk away from."

I groaned. I pulled over and turned to look at the miserable girl. I'd need my full attention for this. "Judy, you did not start a species war, Bellwether did. You just got conned."

"Hustled..."

"Whatever! Look..." I leaned down. I still towered over her, but it felt a little more intimate. "Judy, I'm not going to pretend you didn't make any dumb mistakes at that conference, or that you didn't carry around some nasty, prejudiced views, but when you realized what was happening you _left_. And when you found a way to fix it you came back and saved a lot of people."

I gripped the side of my seat. "And for what it's worth... It made me feel like our job actually mattered. Like we weren't just... Making sure things stayed the same. We could actually help people." I looked away. "I never really thanked you for that."

She put her paw on the tip of my trunk. It smelled like hay and warm sand from the beach. "You didn't need to."

I blushed. "Well, I felt like it." I pulled myself back up and turned to the road. "So... I guess we should go do our jobs huh?"

She smirked. "Our callings, yes."

I smiled. I liked the sound of that...

#

I did not, however, like the smell of it.

I gagged into my handkerchief. "Oh gods..."

The perp in the back glared at his wife. "Well, I hope you're happy Beatrice, now we're going to get tried for assault."

The female skunk groaned. "You sprayed them too Howard!"

"I thought we were working together!"

"Oh, so _now_ you want to do things with me!"

"Would you two please can it!" Cried my sadly much less sweet smelling partner... Not that I was any better. "Seriously, you have the right to remain silent. I suggest you use it."

Despite the circumstances I smirked. "Wilde's rubbing off on you."

"Oooh, who's Wilde?" Asked Beatrice.

Howard rolled his eyes, "Oh are you going to flirt with _him_ too?"

"Okay, that's enough of that." I raised the sound proof divider between our cab and theirs.

Honestly it was a bit of a creepy feature, but it came in handy.

"Think we can talk Clawhauser into booking these two for us?" I asked.

Judy cringed. "I think Wolford is going to pay us to let him book them if it gets us in the shower faster."

"Heh... Yeah..." I eyed the road warily. "I... Um, I'm sorry today went so south."

Judy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean sorry? None of this was your fault."

I avoided her gaze, pretending I was eyeing up the next turn. "I know, it's just... I kind of hoped that the first time we really got to hang out would have been a bit more..." I honestly didn't even know what I was saying at this point.

Fortunately Judy saved me with a bop to the leg. "Don't worry about it. You made today a whole lot better." Her ears perked up. "In fact! Why don't we grab coffee some time next Thursday? I've got the afternoon off and I could use a tour of the larger parts of the city."

My eyes widened. Coffee? With Judy?

 _Play it cool Francine! Play it cool..._ I did my best to sound relaxed. "Uh! S-sure! Wow, I didn't even know you were interested."

I cringed. _Great Francine, real smooth._

She laughed. "What are you talking about, you're great!"

I smirked, feeling a little more at ease. "Well, I know that, I meant towards elephant ladies."

She tilted her head. "What do you mean-" Her ears fell. She blushed. "Oh... Francine, I didn't mean it like that. I just... as _friends_."

I blinked. "Oh... Um, okay." I turned my full attention back to the road.

"Francine-"

"It's cool Judy." I gripped the steering wheel. "I get it."

The rest of the ride was silent.

#

I opened the door to my apartment, exhausted and still smelling far too much of skunk.

Honestly the ineffectiveness of the department issued tomato juice wasn't the really draining part.

I stripped off my uniform jacket and eyed my reflection in my badge. The symbol that defined me. The physical manifestation of my love for...

I groaned.

Who was I kidding? I'd barely worked for the thing, and I definitely hadn't devoted my life to it.  Judy was someone who loved her job, worked day and night for what she believed in and generally dragged her way to the top by sheer force of will despite everything in her way.

I was just some dumb, ugly girl who lived in a crappy apartment.

I needed a beer. There was a note projected on the fridge (yes, my roommates used a projector, it was easier than writing down something in a size I could read).

_Dear Francine,_

_We're out for a family dinner. We'll be back by ten at the latest. Please be sure to pick up your clothes._

_Love,_

_Danielle_

I sighed. If there was ever a night I could have used my friends...

I went to my bedroom and threw myself on the unmade sheets. I should make my bed, I should do the laundry, I should be something other than be a useless pile of-

The doorbell rang.

_Oh for..._

I forced myself up and hit the talk button on the apartment's intercom. "Who is it?"

"Francine, It's me." Said the last voice I ever wanted to hear.

I growled. "Go away Amanda."

"Francine, it's important."

"Go. Away." I pointedly hit the mute switch on the intercom and plunged back into bed. I didn't care if my sister was here to give me a solid gold bar and a back rub, there was no way in hell-

There was a knock on my door.

_What the...!_

Furious, I threw open the door, my sister was on the other side. "Amanda, how did you get past the apartment door, I-!"

"Mom's dead." she said.

I froze.


	2. Eros and Thanatos

Chapter 2

"And then," Carly read. "The Wandering Celestial climbed her way to the height of the cliff where the graveyard lay, curious and confused by the commotion on top.

"There she found a bull, half burnt, beating a pile of corpses with a stick and laughing.

"The wandering Celestial was terrified, and pulled the bull away, her strength shocking the bull.

"'Please! No!" He shouted. 'I have to do this! These people burned me! They tortured me! Called me wicked for nothing!"

"He clutched at his scars, 'Karma struck them down with plague, but I still suffer. They haunt my dreams. I see them in the night, clutching knives, telling me I'll never escape.'

"The Wandering Celestial felt her heart ache, knowing with her sight that he spoke the truth. She drew the bull into an embrace. 'They are beyond your ability to hurt.' she said, 'As they are also beyond the ability to harm you. They are even beyond Karma's reach.

"She reached out her arms and with a wave of them and an echo of will, the corpses decomposed and an apple tree sprung from the rich dirt they had become."

"The bull's eyes widened in amazement. 'How can this be! Who are you?'"

"The Wandering Celestial smiled. 'I am Red Wolf, Patron of the lost and broken.' she put a paw on the Bull's chest. 'My ability to heal the body is no greater than that of a mortal, but stay by my side and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, and help you find peace.'

"The bull agreed. And so the Lost One gained a companion, and the world became just a bit brighter."

Carly closed the book. "Are you ready to go?"

My dress was rumpled, and I only felt a little bit better, but I nodded.

"Let's do this."

#

The elephant graveyard was an ancient, ornate place.

It wasn't like those Lion and Lamb cemeteries with all those stone crosses and individual plots, but rather a colorfully decorated temple by the river. In its center stood a large statue of Karma, the elephant version, the fox version being considered an imperfect reflection of the higher truth.

I wondered how Wilde felt about that. Did he even know?

And underneath it, upon a pyre, was the woman who had kicked me onto the streets at sixteen.

My dress itched. It was one of those modest, white funeral things that was both traditional and horribly uncomfortable.

"This fabric sucks," Carly said, sitting on my shoulder in jeans and a barely formal polo shirt. Frankly, I was lucky I talked her out of the Temple of Red Wolf issued robe.

She'd insisted on coming. I didn't know what I would do if she wasn't here.

I felt bizarre. Disconnected. There was part of me that was grieving and part of me that was rejoicing and I had no idea which part was more messed up.

I needed a drink. Badly.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" Came a voice.

An elephant in a white dress with a red sash stood in front of me. She was wearing glasses and the cut of her dress was far more professional than mourning.

I held out a hand. "Officer Pennington. ZPD Precinct one." The title wouldn't garner me much respect, but I'd take whatever I could get."

She shook it politely. "Sarah Tuskton, accountant to the Haathee family. If you don't mind me asking, how did you know the deceased?" "She was my mother." I said blandly. Her eyes widened slightly. "Oh... You're Francine." Her grip loosened, and finally fell away. "So... You took your husband's name?" I narrowed my eyes. "No." She looked away. "Ah... Yes, quite. Well, it was lovely meeting you." That said she made her escape. 

Carly gripped my shoulder, glaring holes into the back of the other Elephant's dress. "We don't have to be here you know."

"I know." I replied. But I'd wandered here anyway. I guess old habits die hard.

I eyed my sister at the front of the room, expertly handling the other guests. Being the perfect, brilliant socialite my mother raised her to be.

Like always, I couldn't get a good read on her, but she'd turned her mask up to eleven, so that probably wasn't good.

"Madame... Madame?" Came a voice.

Wait, was he talking to me?

I turned around to see our... My mother's ageless family butler, Mr. Hornson, standing impassively at attention.

The Rhino cleared his throat. "Miss Francine, A gentleman from the ZPD is here to see you. He claims to be your partner."

I felt a migraine coming on. _Of course..._

"Do you want me to send him away?" Hornson asked.

I shook my head. "No... Thank you, I'll talk to him. Carly, you feel like coming with?"

She nodded. "Wouldn't miss it."

If Hornson didn't like me having a rat on my shoulder at my mother's funeral he didn't say anything about it. I made my way through the crowd of wealthy elephants and found the door.

James Trunkaby was standing outside with Greg Fangmeyer. As usual, they were joined at the hip. Despite his tailored funeral suit, Trunkaby looked more than a little worse for wear and Greg was eyeing him like he was about to fall over. I guess he really was sick yesterday.

I let out a breath, "James, what are you doing here?" I asked as calmly as I could manage.

The bull elephant looked back and forth for a moment, as though confused by the question. "I came here to support you."

I grunted in response. "Well, I'm fine. You can go." I turned back to the door.

The arctic wolf spoke up. "Francine, you're obviously not fine. James had to call in your sick day so you didn't get sacked. And let's not forget that your mother..."

He stopped, unsure of how to finish that sentence. In his defense, I wouldn't have known either. "Look," I said. "I appreciate your co-workerly concern, but this is a private family matter. Thank you for handling my absence, now I really have to go."

The Bull Elephant balked. "For Karma's sake Francine, is that really all you think of me as? A co-worker?"

I ground my teeth. I turned back to him. "Yes. You are a coworker. My partner at work. That is all, and that is all we will ever be. I thought I made that extremely clear."

Trunkaby narrowed his eyes. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

My best friend hung down in front of me, as though shielding me from the Bull. "Alright, that's enough!" She said. "The lady said no. Go away."

Trunkaby grit his teeth, looking down at the rat offended "I am not coming on to Francine! I am being here for her. You know, as a _friend_? People do that you know."

I glared at him. "Trunkaby, right now-" The wind shifted. I caught a terrifying and frankly infuriating scent. My eyes widened. "Seriously? You're trying to sell the platonic friend shit while you're in musth!?"

The bull took a step back. He pulled a pill bottle out of his pocket and held it up wardingly. "I'm on medication. I'm fine... Besides I'm a grown mammal, I am perfectly capable of-"

"You are not fine!" I snapped. A flame had lit inside me and all my desire to be a respectful, polite daughter for the crowd flew right out the window. "You showed up in rut to the woman who rejected your marriage proposal on the day of her _mother's funeral_!"

Greg got between us. "Okay, Franny you are way out of line."

I trumpeted with rage. "I'm out of line? _I'm_ out of line?!"

The wolf snarled back, his teeth bared. "Yeah you-" He froze. He sniffed the air. His eyes widened "Francine do you take warfarin?"

I paused, taken aback. "No, why?"

There are some moments in life that take you completely and utterly by surprise. My coworker flipping out and bursting through the doors of the temple was one of them.

The wolf charged into the room, running like a bat out of hell.  "Warfarin! Does anyone here take Warfarin!?"

I was stunned. I charged after him. "Greg! What the fuck are you-"

It only got worse. He climbed up the stack of wood and started sniffing at my mother's corpse.

I stared in shock. Holy shit. He'd gone _savage_.

And then he turned around and whipped out his badge. "ZPD! Everyone stay where you are! This is a crime scene."

My sister was frozen in shock. I felt a grip on my shoulder as Carly held on for dear life.

I shoved my way to Fangmeyer. "Greg! What the fuck are you doing."

He stared down at me, terror in his eyes.

"Francine, your mother didn't have a heart attack. She was poisoned."


	3. Dressing Down

_Judy_

Nick poked my side. "Hopps? Earth to Carrots!"

I snapped out of my stupor and turned to him, managing to just narrowly avoid spilling my fries. "Sorry Nick, just a little distracted."

"Hmm," Nick sipped at his tea. He'd wanted coffee, but I'd insisted on something better for his throat, which was still a little raspy. "Well fluff, traditionally on one's lunch break one talks to their partner. Lay it on me."

I winced. "I know, it's just..." Ugh, I might as well bite the bullet. "I shot Francine down, and I feel like crap about it."

The fox's eyes widened. It looked like he nearly dropped his drink. "Wait, run that by me again?"

I rolled my eyes. "Francine asked me out on a date. I turned her down."

He still looked lost. "Francine. As in our co-worker Francine. As in the _female elephant_?"

I put my paws on my hips, trying to look as dignified as I could with a fast food bag on my lap. "You have a problem with that buster?"

He shook his head, then sort of looked away uncertainly. "Not in principle... I'm just trying to imagine how Francine could possibly have expected that to work mechanically."

A variety of rather filthy images surged into my head, but I just shook my head and shrugged. "We could probably have figured something out... Not that every romantic relationship needs to be physical Nick."

Thankfully he did not press the issue. "Fair enough." He took another drink and put his cup in the holder. "Still, at the end of the day, you just weren't interested. It seems pretty cut and dry."

My ears fell. "But I _do_ like Francine, just... Not in the way she likes me." I put a paw against the window. "I don't know, I just feel like she's a cool person and I let her down."

Nick looked out the window and sighed. I saw his mask slipping just a little. "Yeah... I know what that feels like."

I chose not to read too much into that statement. "So... Yeah. I'm worried I made her feel like garbage."

Nick shrugged. "I mean... This is Francine we're talking about here, the world's most easy going, happy go-lucky elephant. I really doubt she'd freak out too much. She probably has other things to worry about too."

I nodded, feeling a little better about the whole thing. I popped another fry in my mouth. "Yeah... I guess you're right."

#

_Francine_

"SUSPENDED? WHY THE FUCK AM I SUSPENDED!?"

Bogo showed a surprising amount of calm in the face of my blatant defiance. "Pennington, Sit."

I... I sat down. I considered putting all my weight on the chair and letting it splinter into kindling, but I caught the steely look in Bogo's eyes and sensed that now was really not the time to push him.

The buffalo folded his hooves together, and continued. "Francine, let me assure you this has nothing to do with your job performance. It will be a paid suspension while we investigate your mother's murder."

I had to give the old buffalo credit for not sugar coating that. If there was anything you could count on the chief to do, it was give it to you straight.

Frankly I loved him for it, but that didn't mean I wasn't fucking furious at him. I crossed my arms. "Sir, with all due respect, my mother and I have not been close for an incredibly long time, and her loss is _not_ affecting me."

The buffalo rolled his eyes. "Say that without folding your ears back and maybe I'll believe it." He gestured to the door. "Enjoy your vacation. Goodbye."

I ground my teeth. "Damn it chief you can't just bench me right now! I know the elephant community. You NEED me!" I snapped.

The room felt like it had just gotten twenty degrees colder.

The chief tilted his head. I never thought that movement could be so terrifying. "Really Pennington? I 'need' you?"

I felt myself inching away. "I... Sir, I-"

"Officer Pennington, let me be frank." The chief said, his voice even and cold. "You are perhaps the most lackluster officer on the force.  There are cadets who would have given their right arm to hold your position, and the only reason you are here while they are not is because the department finds it useful to have some extra muscle to throw around."

I didn't have a response for that. "Sir..."

He narrowed his eyes. Whatever I had been planning on saying died in my mouth. "I'm not done officer, not by a long shot. You have treated your duty to the people of this city with the amount of respect a highschooler treats a job at Bug-a-Burger. The only reason I am even slightly inclined to treat you with any decency at all is because despite all that, I have seen you put your life on the line for others."

He shook his head, snuffing out any hope that came with those words. "But, to be frank, I have no clue whether you've done that out of a sense of duty, or because on some level you're still that same high school cow who wants to _die_."

My skin blanched. I felt like I was going to puke. He... I can't believe he'd gone there.

He pointed to the door. "Get out. And don't come back until you've figured out why you're even here."

I picked my shaking body up and left.

#

_Judy_

Feeling energized from a solid day on patrol, I made my way to the chief's office with a positive spring in my step.

We'd helped an old moose lady get her purse back, caught four traffic violators, and had some truly excellent salads for lunch.

Not even a visit to the Chief's office could get me down.

Nick followed along, shaking his head and smiling at my frankly kit-like exuberance. "Carrots slow down. You're going to give this old man a heart attack."

I snorted. "You're thirty three Nick."

He shook his head, letting his face droop and generally hamming it up. "What's that young whipper snapper?" He grasped at his chest dramatically, "Oh! My poor heart! There's a bright light in the distance... Karma? Is that you?"

I felt like my eyes were going to roll straight out of my head. "Ha ha grandpa. Now come on, the chief's waiting."

It was only half another ridiculous monologue when we reached the chief's door. Nick managed the transition to a (mostly) conscientious professional at an incredible speed. "Officer's Wilde and Hopps reporting Sir."

The chief eyed the file on his desk and sighed. "I have a new assignment for you. I'll need you to tread lightly on this one... It's close to home."

I raised an eyebrow. "Sir?" He was not acting like himself.

To my utter astonishment, and _horror_ , he reached under his desk and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a trio of glasses. "The most difficult part of being in law enforcement is being objective. Being able to see things clearly, and enforce the law even when the people who break it are completely and utterly justified..."

Nick stared at the glasses with roughly the same expression he'd been wearing when he'd been dangling over the ice pit at Mr. Big's manor. "Sir... You're scaring us. What's going on?"

He poured each of us a drink. "As of right now, Officer Pennington is the prime suspect in a murder investigation."

My ears flattened. "What!? Why!"

He threw the file to me. "Because her mother utterly deserved it." He took a long drink and let out a breath. "Lamb willing, I'll be making an apology later. For now I need you two to get digging."


	4. Punching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! This chapter contains copious amounts of non-sexual nudity and frank discussion of body parts. Viewer discretion is advised. Please do not read this if it is illegal for your age in your locality.

Francine

The second I was out of station I rumbled. Loud. _Nandi. I need to hit something._

There was a pause. _I'll be in the gym._

#

Mystic Springs Oasis, the one place on earth where everyone's a weirdo and no one gives a crap so long as you get naked.

Frankly, I stopped caring about that shit about two seconds after meeting Nandi. I'd seen her vulva more often that I'd seen a paycheck, and the club's elephant sized gym was free.

I slammed my hooves into the bag again and again in a rapid rat-tat-tat. My form was off, and I had the stance of a drunken sloth, but I didn't care.

Nandi mostly seemed confused. "You seem upset... What was your name again?" She asked, gripping the bag tightly.

"Francine." I said, continuing my barrage of punches.

"Of course. Sorry."

I took a breather. "You don't need to apologize."

Nandi's ears fell. "People keep saying that. That, I remember."

I groaned, pulling my punches back and throwing up my arms in frustration. "It's okay! You have brain damage! You forget shit! I accept that and love you anyway! So can you hold the fucking bag still so I can keep punching it?"

She blinked at me for a moment. Then she gripped the bag and smirked. "Okay."

I rolled my eyes "Oh Wanderer, you're going to get hung up on the _love_ thing aren't you?"

She tilted her head around the bag, a smarmy look on her face that would have put Wilde to shame. "I bet if I wasn't twice your age you'd have mounted me already."

"You have a wife!"

"Sure I do..."

"Oh don't you pull that shit. You remember Da-."

The sound of a large, clearing throat came from behind me.

I turned around.

Trunkaby was standing behind me, though in his defense he no longer smelled of musth, and was a respectable distance away.

I looked him up and down. I turned back to the bag. "Not impressed."

"Dude, that's harsh." Came Greg's voice.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you're he-" I blinked, the man up and down. "Huh... Didn't know you were trans."

The arctic wolf crossed his arms. "You got a problem with that?"

I snorted. "Please, I'm the queerest one here. By the way, passing on testosterone is easy mode. Try being MTF sometime."

"No thanks... This is..." He scratched his head. "This is considerably more calm and normal than I expected."

"Welcome to being a naturalist." I said, going back to punching. "Where you stare at people blankly for two minutes and then realize It's really not that big a deal."

Trunkaby looked more than a bit awkward. He looked like he was looking for a place to sit, and ended up on the floor.

"Don't forget your towel." Nandi admonished, gesturing harshly with her trunk. "I am not cleaning up butt stains. And if you take one step closer to Francesca I will kill you. I know sixty ways to kill a man. Sixty one now that you have exposed your testicles."

Trunkaby adjusted his towel and crossed his legs. "Okay then... I wasn't..." He looked up at me. "Francine, I heard what happened. What Bogo said was uncalled for."

I groaned I swear, if I rolled my eyes any harder they were going to fly straight out of their sockets. "Seriously? Is this going to be your shtick now? I rejected your proposal so now you use every personal tragedy I have as an excuse to stalk me?"

He didn't rise to the bait. "Francine, do you know why I became a cop?" He asked.

"You weren't big enough for porn?" I asked.

"Cute... Look." He put his hands together. "I became a cop because I kept on seeing people around me in trouble. I kept seeing people who were in pain and I wanted to help."

I could only shrug at that. "Should have become a social worker then."

"I considered it. Look..." He continued, clearly uncomfortable with this entire scenario. "It's not just the proposal, I only made that so you might be able to get assholes to stop throwing shit at you on the bus. But even before that you always hated my guts. At first I thought you were just an asshole..."

"Trust your instincts." I replied.

"... But, then it hit me." He looked up at me. It was a look I had grown all too familiar with. "Did... Did someone hurt you?"

I shot him a baleful look. "Yes. Obviously." A knot twisted in my chest, but it was an old knot. One I was used to and had confronted so many times it barely even existed anymore. "My mother drugged my best friend into raping me."

Trunkaby reeled back in horror. Ah, yes. There was the look of horror. There were those pitying eyes...

At first, I appreciated them. Now, they were just exhausting.

Trunkaby got up and reached out his arm. "Francine..."

Nandi was between us in an instant. "Not another step!" She narrowed her eyes. "I do not make idle threats. I fought in the Secessionist wars, and I know exactly how to make you squeal." She growled, raising her trunk aggressively.

Trunkaby stepped back. Though if I had to guess, I'd say it was more out of politeness than fear. He still had that stupid look in his eyes...

I put an arm on Nandi's shoulder. "It's okay. I got this." I pushed her gently to the side and met Trunkaby's gaze. "Look. I have had a _really_ shitty day, and frankly, after everything I've been through, all I want to do right now is hit something." I pointed to the battered gym equipment. :It can be this bag, or your face. Your call."

For a moment he seemed lost as to what to do, but then his expression lit up. "Do it!"

I blinked at him. "What?"

He spread his arms. "Hit me. You need to feel less scared of me right? Maybe it will help you feel better and resolve all this needless between us."

Fangmeyer looked more than a little antsy. "Uh... Trunks, I'm not sure that's such a good-"

"So, it's not s sex thing right?" I asked.

Trunkaby's eyes bulged he looked more uncomfortable than when I revealed my tragic backstory. "How could you _punching_ me possibly be a sex thing?"

I groaned. "Oh you sweet summer child. Fine." I turned to Fangmeyer and Nandi. "You both heard him consent right?"

The wolf looked nonplussed. "Uh... Yeah, but I have to say this doesn't seem like a healthy way to resolve-"

"Cool thanks." I walked up to the stupid bull and slammed him in the face with everything I had.

#

About an hour later he woke up in the hospital. "Wha-? What happened? Where... Oww..." He grasped at his jaw.

I lowered my magazine. "Yeah, might have knocked one of your molars loose. Sorry about that."

I turned to the wolf on the couch. "See? He's fine. Now, as I was saying Fangmeyer, it really does behoove you to make the same offer considering you literally _climbed up my dead mother's corpse_!"

I didn't think the wolf could get any whiter. "Umm..."


	5. Home to History

Judy

The Amber Plateau, a district older than the city of Zootopia itself.

Once upon a time, a little rabbit in a big warren had picked up a book about the city's founding and read all about this place. When the city was built, The elephants had acted as mediators between all of the smaller mammals and built a settlement that would serve as a symbol of unity between species. A place that would unite predator and prey, burrowers and tree climbers, even the giants and the tiny.

Originally the city had been built far away from the plateau, at the time an elephant trading settlement that provided the primary workforce for the city's construction. But after a couple hundred years the city sprawled out so far that it engulfed the plateau itself...

But the elephants didn't mind really. Zootopia had become the shining beacon they had always dreamed of, and the Amber Plateau... Well, all the money from constructing those buildings had to flow somewhere, didn't it?

As we entered the Plateau we had to don orange jackets and throw on the siren's lights (not the sound though, that would be rude). There were signs strewn about the carefully manicured parks with messages like "Watch your Step" and 'Caution: Children Playing' that were clearly more warnings to visitors than anything else.

I swear I felt the cruiser shake as we passed a particularly energetic soccer match.

Nick, native Zootopian that he was, remained completely unphazed. "You holdin' up okay there Carrots?" He asked, with just a tinge of haughty superiority in his voice.

"I'm fine." I said. My voice was composed, but honestly my claws were burrowing a bit into the cruiser's upholstery.

I didn't have time to be unnerved today. I had some righteous justice to dole out and a friend counting on me.

And then we reached the Hathee Manor.

It was more than twice the size of my entire apartment complex.

I couldn't help it. I felt a tiny twinge of fear.

#

The rhino butler looked down at us. "Mr. Wilde and Miss... Hopps, I presume?"

To his credit, his words began to fade out at the death glare I was giving him. I unfurled a roll of paper. "We have a warrant to search the premises. I expect everyone here to cooperate. Is that clear?"

Getting that had been like pulling teeth, but I would be damned if these people were getting any special privileges.

"Miss Hopps?" a voice came from behind the butler. A woman with a striking family resemblance to Francine appeared in the hallway. She was immune to my glare. "Oh excellent! You've arrived. Please Hornson, let them in."

The Butler drew the door open wide in a completely unnecessary gesture. I could have fit a thirty rabbit chorus line through the double doors. I marched in as quickly as I could, holding onto as much dignity as I could manage given the massive size differences. I raised an eyebrow at the elephant woman, who I presumed was Amanda Hathee. Politician and dirtbag sister. I whipped out my notepad. "As _requested_ , we have been assigned to your case in lieu of formal detectives."

Amanda made a placating gesture. "Miss Hopps, I merely called the mayor and asked for him to assign you to the case. Your investigative prowess has been heralded again and again in the papers, and as I understand it, your lack of detective rank is solely an issue of no detective positions currently being budgeted for. Something I am working on fixing by the way."

My eye twitched. "Alderman Hathee, if you are trying to bribe me-"

"Okay!" Nick clapped his hands together, "Miss Hathee, thank you for being so understanding with regards to the necessity of this search. I think it might be for the best if we sat down somewhere and asked you a few questions to start."

The elephant nodded. "Of course, I'll have tea brought into the parlor. I've had the serving staff lock down my mother's wing of the house." She grimaced. "Although I admit, it has been cleaned and turned over several times since..."

She looked away.

I felt a tiny twinge in my heart, but I snuffed it out. This woman was most likely complicit in one major felony, if not two. I wasn't about to trust her any further than I could throw her.

Nick just smiled at the Alderman. "Of course miss Hathee. Lead the way."

We were brought to an opulent room covered in priceless historical paintings and first edition books. We climbed on top of a couch larger than my apartment as the tea was served... Not that that was saying much.

The esteemed alderman sighed from her perch on the couch opposite us. "So... I'm guessing you've read up on the investigation into the... Incident involving my mother."

I narrowed my eyes. "You mean where the evidence clearly supported your mother locking your little sister in a room with a bull elephant who had been dosed to the gills with testosterone by _his_ mother?" I gripped my notepad tightly. "Who confessed, is serving a 20 year sentence _and_ implicated your mother in the plan? Yeah, I think we might have a few files on that."

The alderman sighed. "Look, that incident occurred nearly a decade ago, and everyone who could have been involved is either in prison, on the other side of the planet, or _dead_. And whatever my mother may have done, it could not possibly have justified her being _poisoned in cold blood_."

The elephant met my gaze. "Someone killed my mother Officer Hopps. I don't think asking you to find out who did it is particularly uncalled for."

Nick let out a breath. He'd been so quiet I'd almost forgotten he was there. "Miss Hathee... You must understand this is a personal case for us. My partner worked closely with your sister and is simply concerned for her friend."

... Yet another conflict of interest her request to city hall had created.

 Nick continued, "Frankly I'm concerned for Francine too, but we fully intend to investigate your mother's death to the best of our abilities."

The cow raised her trunk uncertainly, then just sighed. "Thank you Mr. Wilde. I appreciate your professionalism and candor. Now, what do you need from me?"

I flipped open my notebook. "When and where did your mother pass away?"

"She was in the dining room having lunch. She liked to take it 12:30 sharp. I was with her, as was Mr. Hornson and a Mr. Roebuck, a representative of Roebuck and Engles."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "What the heck was a lawyer doing there?"

Amanda looked down at her tea cup. "Mom had made a few modifications to her will recently..."

My ears perked up. _Oh boy..._

Amanda held up her hooves reassuringly. "She said they weren't major modifications, but she wanted to make sure everything had gotten filed properly. He assured us he'd triple checked it and everything was in order."

Nick nodded. "Okay, but we'll need to see the modified will to make sure that all of the beneficiaries check out."

Amanda shook her head. "I don't have a copy actually. The estate hasn't been distributed yet. You could talk to the firm though."

I jotted the firm's name down. "We'll do that, but back to the main question, what had she eaten that day? Who prepared her food?"

"She'd just had breakfast and taken her pills a few hours ago. Her food was all made by Mr. Hornson." She gestured to the Rhino standing at attention next to her. "Who, for the record, I trust completely."

The rhino gave the elephant a slight nod, then resumed his attentive posture.

"We'll want to question you as well of course," I added to the rhino in question.

He gave me a nod as well.

"I'll be sure he's made available to you." Amanda said.

I narrowed my eyes, but kept them hidden behind my notepad. I could already see a overbearing boss motive forming in my mind. "How did you get along with your mother?" I asked.

She tilted her head, as thought it was a strange question. "Quite well."

I narrowed my eyes. "Really?"

She narrowed her eyes right back. "Look, I know you've already decided to judge my mother some sort of monster for a single, alleged sin, but I think I'm allowed to have a more complex opinion of her and I ask you to respect that decision."

"And with all due respect, Alderman," I said through gritted teeth, "I would better understand that opinion if your mother hadn't also kicked Francine out of her house and disowned her, which apparently you had no objections to."

The Alderman rubbed at her temples. "Oh Karma, I swear you're worse than the contractors union... Not everything in the world gets into a police report. Of course I didn't agree with my mother, but publicly denouncing her would have done exactly nothing to help my sister, and would have put my child's future in jeopardy."

She glared at me, "Or have you forgotten that my actions affect more than just me? Never the less, I have tried again and again to reach out to my sister and provide her with support, but she sent back every check and hung up on every phone call." The elephant sighed. "To be perfectly honest I was hoping that after all of this was over you could convince her to start _talking_ to me again so we could finally put this all behind us."

I felt bile rising in my stomach, but before I could tell her where to shove her olive branch Nick cleared his throat. "Well Ma'am, I think that covers the basics for now. If you don't mind I'd like to do an initial sweep of the house."

Ms. Hathee looked uncertain. "You are of course more than welcome Mr. Wilde, but..." She eyed him apologetically. "Your size may make that something of a hike. I apologize if it is rude to say so, but I had assumed you would arrive with a large number of CSI personnel."

Nick nodded. "You must understand that there are... Political concerns with a large police investigation being present here. The Mayor's request to the department asked for our discretion, especially considering Warfarin takes some time to kill a person and where she was dosed is up for debate. If you were willing to re-advise the mayor of the urgency though..."

Ms. Hathee looked annoyed, though it didn't seem directed at us. "Of course... Archibald wants this treated with kid gloves. This is private property and let it be known that you have my complete consent to search it as you see fit. I'll inform the mayor and see if that gets the wheels turning."

"Thank you Ms. Hathee. For now though, there is something we can do to provide us with a wealth of information instantly." Nick reached into his pocket and produced a small tablet. "I just need to follow my nose."

Ms. Hathee smiled. "Now you're talking. I had no idea you had scent training Officer Wilde."

Nick smirked. "Nothing formal, but I've dabbled in the past and following a scent trail is easy enough when you have a sample of what you're looking for." He popped open the bag and gave it a whiff. "Alright, I'm ready when you are ma'am."

The elephant blinked. "You want me to come with you?"

"Having someone to open the doors and provide context would be invaluable, so yes, yes I do."

The alderman rose to her feet. She had an almost predatory smile on her face. "By all means then Mr. Wilde. Let's track down a monster."

#

The search lead us through room after room. Nick said there was a faint scent in roughly half of them. It implied the poisoner hadn't known the house very intimately... Or they'd doubled back on themselves to cover their tracks.

Nick asked where Francine's old room was (just to be thorough), but it had been converted to a gym ages ago. The scent of Warfarin was there too, but just because the killer stopped there it didn't mean it was out of sentiment. The other rooms in the hall had the scent too.

Eventually, after yet another opulent library, we came to the master bedroom.

The place was neat and tidy, but a work desk stacked with papers and an old computer within easy walking distance of her bedside implied that while she was well off and bigoted, Francine's mother was at minimum, not lazy.

The bed was gargantuan. More than big enough for two elephants. "Dad passed away over 15 years ago." The Alderman explained. "She never gave up the old bed."

The pictures fit with the story. The dresser was covered with them. Francine's father was big, even for an elephant, but he didn't look imposing. When he wasn't dancing with his wife or playing with his kids he just looked like he was flustered to be having his picture taken. Even the picture of him in a Navy dress uniform just looked like a sensitive soul trying to act tough.

"He was a Navy Surgeon." Francine's sister explained. "Though he had some trouble getting assigned to a boat. During the Secessionist wars the army needed more people doing triage so..." She shook her head. "Sorry, it's a long story. He liked talking about chestnut trees more than that stuff anyway."

It was getting harder to be angry at her. I nodded. "Understood. Nick? Have you found anything."

"Yeah... Yeah I have." He'd climbed up on the bedside table, pulled open a drawer and slipped on a pair of gloves. Inside was a large pill organizer.

He sniffed at it carefully and grimaced. "Yup. This is it. This is how she was poisoned."

Amanda blanched. "Oh god... Someone tampered with her medications?"

"Well none of the other bins smell like Warfarin, so yeah. Barring further evidence, I'd say this is how it got in her system." The fox frowned, "Crap."

I blinked. "What's wrong?"

Nick lifted up the organizer (with more than a little difficulty) to show me "Carrots, the last filled slot in this thing is for Friday afternoon. She died before she could take them."

My ears fell back. "Oh no..." Nothing could ever be simple, could it?

Amanda was lost. "I'm terribly sorry, what's the issue?"

Nick lowered the pill organizer, very carefully so as to not injure himself. "The issue is that the perp could have placed their little present here any time in the last _five days_ before your mother's death. No one has a five day alibi..."

Amanda's ears fell back. "That's going to make this difficult isn't it?"

Mine fell too. "I'm afraid so Alderman. I'm afraid so."


	6. Responsibilities

_Francine_

_Zootopia_

The punch had been satisfying in the instant, but by the time I made it up the stairs to my apartment I was already starting to regret it. Trunkaby was a bit of a creep, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t evil, and Wolford had obviously gone through some serious shit in his life…

 

How that had lead to a habit of corpse climbing was anyone’s guess, but at the end of the day he was just doing his job - albeit in his own brain damaged way.

 

My mom was loaded with too many issues to count, but at least one thing she’d taught me was right on the money: Solving your problems with violence was just plain immature.

 

Right now I was feeling like a Wanderer- damned toddler.

 

I poured myself a glass of water and took a long sip, trying to… I dunno, re-center myself, figure out my next move.

 

I noticed a noise coming from my room and tilted my head, curious… then smirked in realization.

 

Nothing made you feel more grown up than parenting, even by proxy.

 

I sidled up to my door and the sound of pounding heavy metal shook right through it, which was an impressive feat considering it was barely open a crack, and it was a sound-proofed security door I’d lugged up from the hardware store in a fit of romantic optimism.

 

I pried it open to find a single rat on my bed hammering at a controller while blood spurted in truly improbable amounts from some kind of lizard man on my TV.

 

Alan didn’t even notice me walking up. I tapped him with my trunk.

 

“Gah!” The teenage rat plopped over onto my covers and blinked up at me. He paused the game. He at least had the decency to look ashamed, “Francine! Uh… What are you doing back so early?”

 

I crossed my arms. “I took some time off. The _real_ question here is what are you doing out of school?”

 

Carly and Danielle’s eldest child shrugged. “I had a doctor’s appointment.”

 

I raised an eyebrow. “That took all day?”

 

He scratched at the back of his ear. “Well, you know. Sometimes the moms are pretty cool about all that. Want some popcorn?” He held up a single kernel from a tray of perhaps six of the things sitting next to him.

 

I grinned. “I’ll pass thanks, what are you doing in my room anyway?” It had never been off-limits per-se (barring my gun-safe and a certain ‘sock’ drawer), but usually my favorite rodents wouldn’t make the hike unless we were watching a movie together.

 

He shrugged. “I got this converter for my Z-Box and I wanted to see if I could hook it up to the TV in here… Plus I needed a break from the kids.”

 

‘The kids’ was how Alan referred to his younger siblings. To be fair, there was a six year age gap between him and the other five kids, but to me it seemed like he was trying to grow up way too fast.

 

I couldn’t imagine how Carly felt.

 

I sat down, gently so as not to disturb him. “Are you doing okay? It seems like I haven’t seen you in a bit.”

 

He looked away. “Yeesh, third degree much? I’m fine, just… You know, looking forward to college and junk, getting out of here.”

 

College was still at least two years off, so the response was puzzling to say the least. “Anything in particular you want to get away from? Because if it’s my BO, then hanging around here with my dirty laundry isn’t going to help.”

 

He smirked. “Don’t worry, your stench is merely nauseating, not fatal.”

 

“You’re such a charmer.”

 

“I know.”

 

I rolled my eyes. “Seriously though, you’re young. It doesn’t last too long, so I say enjoy it while you’ve got it.”

 

He sighed, shivering a bit and snuggling up in his hoodie. “I guess so…”

 

I tilted my head. “Are you cold?” It was pretty warm as far as I could tell, but I had a lot more thermal mass than he did.

 

He fiddled with his controller. “It’s cool. I’m good.”

 

He wasn’t being very convincing. “Dude, it’s no biggie, I can just turn up the thermostat and-”

 

“ _I said I’m fine!_ ” he snapped with a lot more venom than I thought the question warranted.

 

I held up my paws apologetically. “Easy there Al, I’m just looking out for you…” A thought occurred to me.  “Wait… Why were you at the doctors?”

 

The teenage rat narrowed his eyes. “I’ve got two moms Francine. I don’t need a third.” That said, he jumped down off the mattress. “I gotta pee. See you at Temple.” He walked out of my room with his hands in his pockets.

 

I held out my trunk for a moment, but honestly I had no idea what to say. I guess adolescents needed space every now and then. Lord knows I did back in the day.

 

I sighed and fell back on my bed. Okay, maybe parenting by proxy was a lot less fun than I thought it would be. Honestly Alan wasn’t usually this angsty. What was eating at him? If he had a bug or something it was nothing to be ashamed of.

 

I closed my eyes for a moment...

 

Why did it feel like my entire life had gone to shit recently? I mean, one of the worst monsters I’d ever known was in the morgue and I was surrounded by people who loved me. Yet all I could seem to do was fuck up every social interaction I stuck my trunk into.

 

I really needed a win…

 

I opened my eyes.

 

There was always the low-hanging fruit.

 

#

_Satya_

_P-_ _hæ'_ _ndin cĥān_ _g_

“You have to be freaking kidding me!” The bull elephant snapped, slamming the blueprints down in front of me.

 

I sighed. My chai had spattered with the impact. “I take it you didn’t like my proposal very much?”

 

Dawood threw out his arms. “Of course not! Satya, your proposal would cost us tens of millions of Rupees, and for what? So some criminal squirrels can freeload on our land?”

 

I sighed. Pessimistic and hyperbolic, just what I had come to expect from the board. “Dawood, for the last time, those squirrels are not criminals. They were not aware that their complex was illegally built on our land and it would only take a minor modification to the office plans to accommodate them.”

 

Dawood sat down in the chair across from my desk, heavily. “And what return on our investment are you expecting to get out of this, a cup of tea from the neighbors?”

 

I crossed my arms. “How about not having our company smeared all over the internet?”

 

Dawood rubbed at his temples. “Oh, sweet Karma, Satya! No one cares about what happens to some slum dwelling squirrel squatters. When random mammals trespass on your property you don’t put them in the guest bedroom, you kick them off. It is how business works and how the law works. If the press is going to blame anyone for this it will be their lying, scheming landlord for stealing _our_ property, not us.”

 

I raised an eyebrow. “Really?” I leaned back in my chair. “Well, if it’s such a terrible idea to provide basic housing for over a hundred mammals and reap the public relations benefits, then obviously the rest of the board will reject it, won’t they?” I took a sip of my chai, eyeing him over the mug.

 

The bull grit his teeth… then he drew in a deep breath and composed himself. “Look, Satya, I know you care about people. That’s why we make such large donations, and work on micro-homes, and all of that feel good stuff, but at the end of the day we are a for profit business, not a charity. If we ask the architects and the contractors to change the blueprints mid-construction after _years_ of negotiations, then we are going to lose money, _and_ face, and probably have to fire some of those workers you like pampering so much.”

 

I frowned. That last part was the only effective argument he’d made all night. But I had checked the budget. The board wouldn’t make any staffing cuts unless they felt like being impossibly stingy.

 

Not that that was out of the question…

 

My phone beeped. “Miss Tembo? You have a call from the urgent list… It’s Francine.”

 

My eyes widened. “Thank you, Boonsri. I’ll get her on Muzzle time.” I turned to the bull. “I have to take this. I’ll see you at the board meeting, alright? I’m sure the other board members will have plenty to say about your concerns.”

 

He let out an insulted grunt and left my office, slamming the door behind him.

 

I sighed…

 

Just talking to men like Dawood left me exhausted. I had to admit, even after doing this for years I was still learning how to negotiate, how to plan projects… how to do the right thing.

 

I shook myself. Francine was a top priority. I couldn’t keep her waiting.

 

I flipped open my laptop and my oldest friend popped up on the screen.

 

There was a part of me that still felt queasy whenever I saw her, but it was faint, overshadowed by years of talks like this.

 

Even sweaty and sitting on her bed in her dingy apartment (she refused every offer I made to buy her a better place). She was still unbelievably beautiful.

 

I felt deeply confused about that.

 

Francine waved on the screen. “Hey Satya… I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.” She looked worn down, and tired. Suddenly I was worried.

 

“Francine, you know I always have time for you. Is everything okay?”

 

She scratched at her arm. “I… I don’t know. Life’s been pretty weird recently.” She looked down, “Mom died a few days ago.”

 

I blinked. I… I didn’t know how to process that information. From what I could gather Francine was in the same boat. “I… I’m sorry?”

 

She shook her head. “Not your fault… although it was someone’s.”

 

My eyes widened. “She was _murdered_? How? Why? Who?”

 

She grunted, falling back on her mattress. “Poisoned. Honestly, with her winning personality it’s not all that shocking, and I have absolutely no idea.”

 

She stared up at the ceiling.  For a moment we were both silent. “I can never talk to her again… And she can never hurt us again.” She turned back to the camera. “Honestly? I have no idea what I’m even supposed to be feeling right now.”

 

I bit my lip. “She wasn’t the only one who did the hurting…”

 

She narrowed her eyes. “You better be talking about your mom.”

 

I cringed. “Francine…”

 

She pulled herself into a sitting position and held out the scars on her arm. “You know what the difference is between yours and mine? Squat. They are equally fucking stupid. You’re a _victim_ just the same as me.”

 

I found myself curling in a little bit. “Francine, I still… It wasn’t mind control, it was just-”

 

“I know what it was, okay?” She said. “Besides, whatever blame you had for that pile of stupid has been more than made up for a hundred times over.” She reached out an arm, as though putting it on my shoulder. “You’re a good woman okay? Don’t forget it.”

 

I smiled, sadly. “Thank you.”

 

She smirked, “Speaking of which… I want you back.”

 

I recoiled. “Wait, what?”

 

She held up her hooves. “I mean, look, my mom is dead, yours is in jail. I know I needed the space way back when, but the assholes who hurt us are just flat up _gone_.” She looked nervous, but hopeful. “I don’t know what we’ll end up being, and I know you have a life over there in P̄hæ̀ndin cĥāng,” She let out a breath. “But I want something good to come out of this. So if we could start at least visiting each other again… would you want to?”

 

Honestly the thought made me ill. But, I would get to see her again. And it would be healthy wouldn’t it? Fixing that bridge…

 

_And I’d get to see her again…_

 

So I forced a smile. “Okay. When would you like me to stop by?”

 

She smiled back. “I did happen to score some time off. Do you have any time this weekend?” She paused. “Wait, the plane tickets for that soon would-”

 

I smirked, “My expense accounts have expense accounts, remember? I can afford tickets.”

 

She chuckled. “Right… I guess, I’ll see you… wow, in a couple days then?”

 

I nodded. “Yeah, yeah you will.”

 

“Cool. I love you okay?” She said it positively beaming. “Catch you on the flipside Satya.”

 

I grinned, “Love you too.”

 

And just like that the call ended, and I was left staring at a black screen.

 

I got up from my desk and walked to my mirror. I had had it since I was in college. It was still an ugly, utilitarian thing, but after years of hormones and surgeries I felt a lot better about seeing myself in it. I felt a lot better in general.

 

But even with my beautiful office full of philanthropic awards, and fresh chai tea, and a body that actually fit me…

 

I was still a rapist.

 

There was no changing that.


	7. The Lost Fox

_Nick_

Chief Bogo took off his reading glasses and eyed me evenly. “Wilde, do you know why I called you in here?”

 

I looked to the side, eyeing the map on his office wall. “I… Honestly I’m not sure sir.”

 

I could guess, but I wasn’t technically sure.

 

He leaned forward, doing his best to meet me in the eye. “Wilde, do you know how I view the officers in this department?”

 

“As pains in your ass?” I asked, testing the tension.

 

He snorted. “Definitely, but I view them even more as blades in my pocket knife.”

 

He gestured to a binder full of files. “Each tool has its place. One officer might be well suited for breaking down doors, another for deescalating riots, yet another for making sense of patterns.” He eyed me evenly, “Before Hopps, I had not realized the utility, flexibility, or speed of having some smaller blades in my knife. It’s a mistake I have since worked to rectify.”

 

I blinked. “Um… Okay.” I had a sinking feeling of where he was going with this.

 

He gestured down to the hallway. “Wilde, Hopps is my white knight, my goody two shoes. She is the officer who inspires everyone to work harder and never gives up. She will always be willing to work long hours, and she will always see the good in people…”

 

He turned back to me. “She is not who we need right now.”

 

I forced my hackles to lower. “Sir, I object to the characterization of my partner as ineffective. She has made strides in all of our current investigations and is digging through a pile of potential suspects as we spea-”

 

“Wilde, you know damn well she is ignoring the most obvious suspect.” The buffalo cut me off. His voice was even. “I read her report, and there is not a single mention of Officer Pennington in it.”

 

He opened up a file on his desk. “Quite frankly, that’s exactly what I hoped would happen.”

 

I blinked at him. “Sir?”

 

He pulled out a sheet of paper. “Let me be frank with you Wilde, I _want_ Hopps to succeed here. I want her to find some serial killer who murdered that monster for a bit of good natured fun and who will deserve whatever punishment he gets.” He handed the sheet to me. It had an address on it. “I want you to fail. I don’t want you to find anything, but I need you to look.”

 

I stared at the sheet. I bit my lip. “Judy…”

 

The Buffalo grunted. “Hopps will be digging into the less unsavory parts of this investigation. I need you to be quiet about this. Telling your partner would just lead to her throwing an entirely justified fit, and bringing her with you would be counter-productive.” He gave me a level look. “Can you do that? Can you not tell your partner about this, even when you’re in bed together?”

 

My fur slicked at the implication. “We- We’re not sleeping together sir.”

 

He blinked at me. “Why?”

 

I just stared at him.

 

He shrugged. “It’s none of my business, unless you make the mistake of making it so. Do I have your discretion, Officer?”

 

I eyed the address, considering it.

 

Did I think Francine was capable of something like this?

 

Did I think Judy was capable of investigating her?

 

I felt my guts twist. “I’ll let you know what I find sir.”

 

The buffalo nodded. “Thank you Officer Wilde. Stay safe out there, you may take another officer along at your discretion.”

 

I shook my head. “I’d rather do this solo.” No need to get anyone else’s paws dirty.

 

I hopped off the chair and started walking out. But when I reached the door, I paused. “What’s Francine?”

 

The buffalo tilted his head. “Pardon?”

 

I met his eyes, “If Judy’s the paladin, and I’m the sneak, then what’s Francine’s specialty?”

 

The buffalo looked pained for a moment, then let out a breath. “Whenever I need someone to do something reckless, something dangerous, where there’s very little chance of coming back…” He looked down, “She volunteers.”

 

I stared at him, “And you _let_ her?”

 

The buffalo said nothing.

 

I blinked. “With all due respect sir, you’re a sick, sick man.”

 

To his credit, he nodded.

 

#

 

So it was that later that night I found myself sitting alone in an unmarked car, eyeing a rhino district apartment through my binoculars.

 

Honestly I was a bit surprised to find out Francine lived here. The department paycheck was bad, but it wasn’t _that_ bad. And it size scaled. She should have been able to afford an elephant sized apartment at least, even if it ended up being the relative size of Judy’s.

 

As I watched her door, I wondered why I was feeling so… empty about all of this.

 

People will tell you that any number of things are the most painful thing a mammal can experience, and in my time I’d been through a lot of them… but for me pain wasn’t the problem.

 

When you get cold, when you just can’t feel anything at all… that’s when things get really rough. That’s when you start to wonder if you’re even alive at all.

 

I’d seen things on the streets that made what Francine went through look like a Sunday brunch. What was surviving one rape when compared to the life of a sex slave? What was getting kicked out of your house when people were literally born on the streets?

 

What was someone getting reckless compared to a mammal actually putting a gun between their teeth?

 

I’d seen it all, and I only started feeling empty when I bumped into something truly disgusting. There were mammals in this city whose every moment was literal agony  and I felt myself going cold at one elephant with a crappy family.

 

 _Family_... Maybe that was it. I glanced down at my badge for just a moment in thought.

 

The ZPD… It wasn’t like anything I’d ever worked for before. You had people who came in just to punch a clock sure, but with Judy there it felt a bit more like… I don’t know, we were all together, and fighting the good fight, trying to make the world a better place. Holding the dark back as best we could. Saving each other and more importantly saving all those people trapped in nightmares.

 

There _were_ officers who abused their authority though, and we had to hunt those down actively, or else one bad apple would spoil the bunch.

 

Had Francine crossed the line? Taken the law into her own paws?

 

Had I started to care about that?

 

My thoughts were cut off when the door to the complex opened. Francine! Were… Were those rats on her shoulders?

 

She was wearing a black coat with lots of pockets. I’d never seen her in it before, but to be fair I hadn’t seen her out of work all that often. A massive, elephant sized van pulled up in front of them.

 

 I saw two more elephants inside, both women. One of them looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place how.

 

Francine piled in, and the game was on.

 

I waited until they’d moved a couple of blocks before slowly merging into traffic to follow them I knew doing this alone was a gamble, but I might be able to keep track of them if I was careful.

 

At this time of night on a weekday traffic was light, but the van was surprisingly agile. It kept to the speed limit though, making it actually harder to follow.

 

They stopped at a coffee shop, a grocery store, a pharmacy… They didn’t stay very long at any of them, but it forced me to do some clever long distance parking. I made sure to keep Tundra Town dispatch on notice, just telling them I was doing observation on a POI, giving my location and referencing the case number.

 

The moose on the other end of the line wasn’t happy about that, but Bogo’s authorization code shut him up… Mostly.

 

Honestly?  I could hardly blame him. I felt everything they’d taught me at the academy screaming at me. I should have had backup cars switching off. I should have been passing along far more detailed reports. I should have had, you know, a partner.

 

But if I did all that, Judy might find out.

 

And she would be ashamed of me… _  
_

_Damn bunny…_

 

This little dance continued for about an hour, as they drove just the speed limit and ran errands. About the time they stopped for ice cream in Sahara Square, I was kicking myself.

 

This wasn’t a clandestine outing. This was just an adoptive family.

 

And here I was, following them around like…

 

Like a predator.

 

I was just about to leave in a fit of self loathing when they turned down the road towards the docks.

 

I blinked. That… That didn’t fit the story.

 

They got out of their car and piled into a row boat.

 

It was after 8:00 pm and they were diurnal, what were they doing?

 

I kept watch. Paying attention to the crowd, there were a lot of diurnal animals milling about the docksides. Even mammals that would hate being in the Tundra town dock’s chill. I saw a pair of Fennec foxes and a Camel huddling in line by a motor boat.

 

Four separate boats began to launch.

 

Okay, this was weird.  I went down a dock. It was time to call in a favor.

 

I slipped down as quiet as I could and put on the trademark Nick Wilde smirk. When I found who I was looking for, I grinned.

 

“Shelly!” I said to the beaver leaning against the railings. “Long time no see.”

 

The stocky dockhand turned to me. Looking confused. “Nick? The hell you doing here.”

 

I shrugged, sauntering over easily. “Oh you know, bit of this, bit of that… Don’t happen to have a boat for me would you?”

 

She narrowed her eyes. “We had a deal Nick, you don’t rat on me, I don’t rat on you. I ain’t got nothing to say to the ZPD and I don’t owe you anything no more.”

 

It seemed my underworld reputation had suffered a bit. Ah well. I held up my paws. “Hey! Easy now, I keep my word and I’m not going after you and yours unless you pull something truly nasty, I’m just tagging along with those folks.”

 

I gestured to the boats leisurely drifting into the fog.

 

She blinked. “Oh… Huh… I guess you would be their type.”

 

I stared at her. “You know something about them?”

 

She smirked. “Nothing criminal, they do like their late night outings though.”

 

I felt like I should press, but the boats were getting further away. “Well then, renting me a boat would hardly be a problem would it?”

 

She gestured over to an unassuming row boat. “Knock yourself out, it’ll only cost you two twenties.”

 

I narrowed my eyes. “Really?”

 

She laughed. “Hey Wilde, this time the clock’s working for me.”

 

I sighed. “Fair enough.” I forked over the cash and climbed in the boat, reminding myself that Shelly was a merchant through and through, and had never done anything worse than smuggling nip. She wasn’t about to send me on a one way trip.

 

At least not if she wanted her boat back.

 

Probably.

 

I worked my arms to a fever pitch as I followed the shape of Francine’s little fleet, straining my muscles and my night vision to its limit. It took about twenty minutes of paddling before they found their way to a tiny island.

 

It was just off the inlet to .It didn’t even have a formal dock, just a little beachside where they anchored their boats.

 

I’d been to places like this and they were neither safe, nor friendly.

 

I told Dispatch what I was seeing and that I was going in for a closer look. They were so incredulous I had to turn off the radio so it wouldn’t give me away.

 

And so it was that I found myself shaking from cold and fear, staring at a small horde of mammals who had climbed their way into, I shit you not, a massive cave hidden in the brush.

 

When the last mammal was inside, I considered my options.

 

One of my fellow officers had joined some sort of secretive maritime fleet at roughly midnight and brought with her several children. Now she was skulking in a mysterious cave, far from the eyes of just about anyone.

 

Yep, that was enough. It was time to call for backup.

 

I hunkered down behind a bush and hit the radio. “Dispatch, I have my POI going into a cave at coordinates 233.14 by 155.80. Civilians present, requesting backup.”

 

There was a pause on the line. “… Oh…”

 

I blinked. “Repeat Dispatch?”

 

“Officer Wilde… Just… Don’t worry about it. Everything’s fine. Suggest returning to station.”

 

I stared at my radio. “Dispatch, I don’t know if you heard me, but there are _children_ in that tunnel!”

 

I was met with a sigh. “And they’ll be _fine_. Look, I know what’s going on there and it’s completely safe.”

 

I grit my teeth, “And what, pray tell, is going on there.”

 

There was a pause. “I… I’m not at liberty to say. Go 10-25 to the station and rest assured-”

 

I snarled “Oh to hell with you! You can _rest assured_ that whatever you’re covering for is getting shut down right this second.” I snapped the radio off and switched to the Sahara square channel. “Dispatch, this is officer Wilde of Precinct One, badge number 098345. Requesting immediate backup at 233.14 by 155.80! Code 10-33 likely in progress”

 

The Radio fuzzed back. “Likely? Officer Wilde, be more specific. Also, those coordinates are in Tundra Town’s bay, why are you on this channel?”

 

I checked the weapons in my jacket. “I have a potential child abduction and Tundra Town Dispatch is covering it up for some reason. At least four Elephants and a large assortment of other animals are in a cave at the coordinates I listed. Recommend sending air support.”

 

I grimaced. Still, I had to say it. “One of the Elephants is a murder suspect.”

 

The voice on the other line snapped to attention. “Acknowledged officer, ETA… 30 minutes.”

 

 _Damnit!_ I let out a breath. “Roger that Dispatch. I’ll see if I can slow them down.”

 

The voice was hesitant. “Officer, I would strongly recommend waiting for backup. If you could get eyes on them, it would help, but avoid engaging unless absolutely necessary.”

 

I nodded. “Don’t worry Dispatch, I’m heading into the cave. Radio reception will likely be minimal.”

 

“Officer…” The voice on the line sounded more than a bit nervous, but they finished strong. “Good luck. Keep those kids safe.”

 

“Understood. Wilde over and out.”

 

#

 

Night vision only gets you so far, and by the time I was underground it was pitch black in the tunnel, which seemed far more artificial than natural at second glance.

 

I had seen tunnels like this along the climate wall, leading to more distant parts of Tundra Town and Sahara Square, spewing either hot or cold air into places the climate wall itself couldn’t reach.

 

This one looked like it had been defunct a long time, though structurally it was still sound, a fact I was incredibly grateful for.

 

As I clung to the frigid wall I considered my options. Climate vents could snake any number of directions, and a flashlight would give me away. If I wanted to find-

 

“ _My bonnie lays afar, upon a lonely eiderdown…”_

The voice sang out in the darkness. I clung tight to the wall and tried my best to squint in the black. The voice was echoing out, distorted by the echo of the tunnel.

 

“ _While I dream of filth and tar inside my burrow in the ground…”_

I felt my paw reaching for my taser, but I forced myself to stay still. I had no idea who this was. Besides, if I couldn’t see him, then he couldn’t see me.

 

“ _Infernal drifting scar of boiling mud and thundering sound…_ ”

 

I did my best to still my breathing. What the hell was he singing? I could faintly make out soft footsteps echoing through the tunnel. The sound still bounced around so much I couldn’t get a fix on it.

 

My heart was racing. Why did I come here? What was I trying to prove? This was crazy!

 

“ _They won’t sing for this forsaken pawn of war…”_

 

The footsteps stopped. The voice called out. “You’re a long way from home Officer Wilde.”

 

I blanched. Fuck it! I pulled out my taser and clicked on the flashlight attachment. “ZPD! Freeze!”

 

I nearly pulled the trigger the second I laid eyes on him. Standing in front of me was a rabbit wearing a solid white mask. They kind you’d see at carnivals. His eyes were covered by some sort of lenses. I couldn’t hold his gaze.

 

The rabbit tilted his head. “Now that’s rude… You are on private property you know.”

 

I blinked. The creepy mask was throwing me off, but even I could tell that was baloney. “This is a Climate wall tunnel! That’s _city_ property and subject to ZPD inspection.”

 

He snorted. “Oh, but I bought this tunnel ages ago. Where else was the city to keep me, hmm…?”

 

I glared at him. “I have probable cause! Now where the fuck are you hiding the children.”

 

He stared at me, I had no idea what he was thinking. “I’m not hiding any children. Some are here with their parents to speak with the Lost One, but they are safe in my walls free to go as they wish.” He gestured to the mouth of the tunnel. “You too are free to leave.”

_The Lost One?_ Okay this was getting ridiculous. I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not going anywhere pal. Paws where I can see them. You’re under arrest for-”

 

Suddenly the lights flicked on. “YO JACK! WE’RE READY TO STAR-”

 

Francine, standing in a distant doorway, blinked at me. “Wilde? The Hell are you doing here?”

 

I felt ready to have a fit. “What am I doing here!? What are _you_ doing here!?”

 

She blinked. “Uh… Going to church?”

 

She looked at Jack and rolled her eyes. “Jack are you doing your Halloween schtick?” She turned back to me, shaking her head. “Sorry Nick, he’s an acquired taste.”

 

Okay, at this point I was sputtering. “Acquired- What- I- Who-?”

 

The elephant sighed, apparently exasperated. “Alright, alright let’s get you inside. There’s cookies and punch by the door…”


	8. Wanderer

Nick

 

The officers tore open Jack’s closet. There was a gun safe inside.

 

The head of the SWAT team was a gruff camel, who was clearly shivering in the Tundra Town cold. “You own a firearm?” He asked.

 

The masked rabbit shook his head. “I do not. I used to own several, but I turned them over at a ‘Cash for Guns’ program ages ago. All that safe holds is mad money and memories these days.” He shrugged. “I can open it, if you want.”

 

The Camel narrowed his eyes. “Do it. And you,” He snapped at a rat on Francine’s shoulder. “Put down that damn camera.”

 

The rat grunted, holding to it firmly. “I did too much time in law school to fall for that. Though whatever trumped up “probable cause” you’ve decided to use grants you disgustingly broad rights to search the premises, I have a clear right to record these proceedings as well.”

 

 The camel narrowed his eyes. “Officer Wilde saw you bringing children into a defunct climate tunnel on an island in the middle of the night. He would have been utterly negligent to not call it in and we would be utterly negligent to not fully search this… Whatever it is.”

 

The rabbit shrugged. “I call it home, personally, and informed the Tundra Town PD about it ages ago.”

 

The camel sighed. “Yes, we’ve seen the deed, and that the children were with their parents whose IDs we are checking. I understand that this is just some Lamb damned weird, but legal cult as far as the paperwork goes, but for all of that, we still need to conduct a thorough search. Now open up the safe.”

 

Jack sighed. “Alright.” The rabbit went up to it and dialed in the combination.

 

The door opened with a clunk. Inside was a photo album, a small pile of cash… and a large number of medals.

 

The camel opened the photo album cautiously and flipped through it revealing pictures of a young rabbit in uniform. The officer stared down at the rabbit. “You… You’re a veteran?”

 

The rabbit sighed, turning away. “Did I take orders from military commanders? For a time yes. Do I think I deserve accolades for the majority of what I did? No.” He met the camel’s gaze. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you the details, but suffice it to say I wasn’t one of those soldiers that saved lives and defended things, at least not for very long. I was something else… something darker.” He put a paw to his chin. “And now, somehow, I’m a priest. Life’s funny that way.”

 

The camel closed the album. A few other officers entered the room. An elephant in full gear cleared his throat. “IDs check out sir, so does the deed. There’s no contraband, and no weapons unless you count the knives in the kitchen.”

 

The camel rubbed at his temples. “Thank you Deshu. Okay then… We’re done here. Thank you all for your cooperation.”

 

The SWAT team started to file out, trudging their way up the cold dark tunnel. I followed.

 

Once we were up on the island proper, stomping through whatever snow the helicopter’s landing had left, the camel spat on the ground. “Lamb I need a good night’s sleep…”

 

I lowered my head. “I’m sorry sir. I really thought-”

 

He held up a hoof. “Wilde, you have nothing to apologize for. You made the right call, it just turned out to be a false alarm.” He grinned. “Honestly I’d hoped my first meeting with the famous fox sleuth would be a bit more triumphant, but such is police work.”

 

I smirked, it was rare that I met an officer outside of Precinct One who looked at me with something other than mistrust. “Thank you sir.”

 

“It’s Mubarak. Sergeant Sayed Mubarak, at your service.” He mimed tipping his hat, then whistled. His team assembled. “Alright! Let’s get this bird airborne.”

 

I rubbed my paws together, more for warmth than emphasis. “Sounds great, where do I sit?”

 

Mubarak winced. “Wilde… Look, I know it’s a pain in the ass, but we’ve really got to dot our I’s and cross our T’s on this one. You’ve got a boat you need to take back.”

 

I grimaced, noticing the sad dingy a few feet to my left. “Right…”

 

The camel gave me an apologetic look and reached into the chopper’s cabin. “Best I can offer you is a parka I’m afraid.”

 

It was a size too big, but I took it with thanks. Then, with a truly impressive wail (it was a large mammal copter after all) they took off and I was alone.

 

Well, not entirely. Francine was right behind me. “So… Bogo’s having me followed?”

 

 _Oh brother…_ I turned around. “Francine… Look… I…” I buried my head in my paws. “I’ve got nothing, okay?”

 

She smirked. “I think it’s pretty self explanatory. Bogo’s worried about me.”

 

I stared at her. “Huh?”

 

She rolled her eyes, “Well… He probably had some kind of pretense for it. Maybe he thinks there’s a miniscule chance I killed my mom or something, but trust me, this is him looking out for me.” She looked around, uncertain. “Nick… Where’s Judy?”

 

I looked down. “Not here.”

 

Francine’s eyes widened. “Wait. What? Nick…” She struggled for words. “It’s _Judy_ for pity’s sake. I thought you two were joined at the hip.” Her eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute, you’re not even Internal Affairs. Why would you be following me unless…?”

 

She grimaced. “Wow… Bogo’s really gone off the deep end huh?”

 

I mulled that over for a moment, and then sighed. “Yeah…”

 

The elephant raised an eyebrow. “And you jumped right along with him?”

 

I nodded blankly. “Eyup…”

 

Looking back I should have known this assignment stank. Even if Bogo had reason to hand it out, I was precisely the wrong choice and could have easily objected. Heck, I could have reported the mismanagement. I could even have marched right down the stairs and told Judy.

 

But I hadn’t and I didn’t.

 

I hadn’t been acting like a cop.

 

I had been acting like a gangster. Again.

 

A wave of cold washed through me that had nothing to do with the snow.

 

“Sheesh…” Francine sat down, eyeing me from the snow covered ground. “Nick, are you okay?”

 

I chuckled. “Me? I’m right as rain Ears, right as…” I stopped. I sunk down into the snow. “I… maybe not.”

 

The elephant tilted her head. I could see something in her eyes I definitely hadn’t expected.

 

 

She was worried about me.

 

She crossed her legs.  “Do you want to talk about it?”

 

I snorted grimly, “Ears, I just treated my Boss like he was a Mafia Don and I was muscle for hire, what is there to talk about?”

 

It was a sinking feeling, knowing that you were sliding back into bad habits. _I needed to do those things… I needed to hurt people._ I told myself, remembering a very different winter. _I needed to survive._

_Judy thinks your better._

_“Once a street fox, always a street fox,” Isn’t that what they said?_

I felt like I was going to puke.

 

After a moment of silence, Francine grimaced nervously. “Look, dude. We’ve all got issues, I know your MO is to bottle them up and pretend they don’t exist, but personally I do a lot better when I have folks to talk to about it.” She looked away, “Honestly I figured Judy was keeping you steady.”

 

She had been, but ever since we got attracted to each other (yes, I knew, it was painfully obvious) things had been getting more distant. It was subtle, but… We were nervous around each other now. I think she was scared I would reject her, and I didn’t know how to let her down without hurting her.

 

I was dangerous to get close to, and I needed to keep her safe.

 

It was really that simple.

 

After a deeply uncomfortable silence, The elephant let out a breath.  “Oh boy… So, I’m going to head back to my support group. Wanna take a 10-7 and come inside? You’re kinda scaring me here.”

 

I shot her a look. “Seriously?” I had just raided that place.

 

She shrugged. “Look man, I don’t know a whole lot about your past, but it’s pretty obvious you’re a trauma survivor, so is practically everyone else in that tunnel.”

 

I chuckled. “Francine, no offense, but I don’t think a cult is what I need right now.”

 

“Do not trust the priests, not absolutely.” The elephant said. “Not even the ones who tell you this. They may be truly good people, they may even care deeply for you, but they have power, and power is the most corrosive substance in the universe. It can carry even the most radiant heart to darkness.”

 

I raised an eyebrow. “… What the heck was that?”

 

She shrugged. “It’s the first line of our holiest text. You’d have to pull a huge pile of insane troll logic out of your ass to make a cult of personality out of The Wanderer.” She sighed. “Look, all I know is that right now you seem like you could use some support. The way I see it, you can sit here in the snow and be miserable, or you can hang with me for a bit until we have a chance to bring you to shore.”

 

I rubbed at my temples. The snow was starting to melt into my pants. “I neither of those are options. I have to get my boat back.”

 

She pointed to my rental. “That boat?”

 

I groaned. “Yes. That boat, the one Mubarak very correctly pointed out that-”

 

She picked up my little dingy like a toy and put it on the ferry she’d come in on.

 

It was completely effortless.

 

She turned back to me. “See? We can get your boat back easy.” She hugged at her chest. “Now can we _please_ go back inside? I’m freezing my tail off here.”

 

#

 

And so it was that I found myself in the living room of a masked rabbit, drinking hot cider and staring up at an improvised pulpit.

 

The rabbit opened up a book on it, and began to read

 

#

 

_Do not trust the priests, not absolutely. Not even the ones who tell you this._

_They may be truly good people, they may even care deeply for you, but they have power, and power is the most corrosive substance in the universe. It can carry even the most radiant heart to darkness._

_Once, the horse Celestial Phantasm told me a story about there being just one god who was all powerful and all knowing, who created even Order and Chaos themselves._

_Such a story greatly troubles me. For I have seen the world, and it is not a place created by someone with pure intentions. If it truly was made by one all powerful deity then there is no doubt that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and we are all doomed from the start._

_But I’m a bit more optimistic than that, so I shall assume there is Hope for us. One cannot function with the alternative._

_Continuing on with the disclaimers, if you’re just reading this to learn how to lie, cheat and steal your way to the top, then save your time and put the book down. I may be the Celestial of lying, cheating and stealing, but I’m not exactly proud of that and I’m definitely not writing this as a training manual._

_I do have a true talent for larceny, however, that much is true. I’ve robbed from the gods themselves so much that few of them tolerate my presence these days. Or worse, they want to_ save _me._

_As if they could do that without realizing they’re just as broken…_

_Note, I’m not saying broken people can’t help others, or that you shouldn’t be willing to accept help, but… I don’t know. I still don’t trust them to get it. Maybe I just want help from someone who knows what it’s like to be Lost. Maybe I’m scared of them…_

_Maybe I’m just not ready to face my demons._

 

_If you keep reading you’re going to be hearing a lot of maybes. If you came here for clear answers, or someone to believe in, or even formal, organized language, then I fear you will be disappointed._

_What I can offer you is a little help. And share the treasure I was given long ago._

_I’m not all powerful, in fact as gods go I’m rather pathetic. I’m not all knowing, in fact I often make mistakes._

_But I do, sincerely care about those who do not fit, those who are broken, those who others have thrown away._

_Who am I? I’m the Red Wolf, the Divine Thief, the Guardian of the Lost and Broken._

_But I prefer the Wanderer above all else. It’s more honest than any other moniker. The universe still has much to teach me, and the best way I learn is through travel in both mind and body._

_Enough preface, let’s start the story. Once upon a time, if my mother is to be believed, there existed two impossibly powerful beings called Order and Chaos. They created the world and then left us behind to found other worlds… which I can’t help but view as neglectful on their part._

_  
However they did leave behind a small set of guardians. They, like all other creatures in the world, were a mix of good and bad._

_There was Growth, an eternally adolescent deer who understands the ability of the world to develop and change for the better, but in some ways is quite naïve._

_There was Phantasm, an equine guardian of the realm of dreams who seems to care deeply for those in need, but who often loses sight of her goals when she is not sufficiently lauded._

_There was Destiny, who is entrusted with making sure the world stays in balance… No matter whom she has to crush under her heel and render powerless to do so._

_We do not get along._

_There was Surrender, who always knows when it’s time to let something terrible go, but not when to stand for what’s right._

_There was Drive, who always knows when it’s time to stand for what’s right, but not when to let something terrible go._

_There was Acceleration, whose exuberant speed has saved many lives, but whose lack of foresight has ended many lives as well._

_There was Fertility who… I admit, there’s only so much I can say about her without getting a bit too personal, so suffice it to say we have a standing disagreement over whether same sex couples should be able to have biological babies if they want (they definitely should), but otherwise we’ve had an… amicable relationship on and off during the years._

_There was Fervor, who gives many people the strength to do what’s right, but who gives his gifts of passion a bit too freely in my opinion._

_There was Fortitude, who taught me how to fight long ago… I’m grateful for that, even if he was better at teaching than nurturing._

_There was Industry, who… Means well and has created many wonderful things, but has an extremely unfortunate habit of concentrating power in a single set of paws. He doesn’t like me very much as I find myself working hard to break his toys more often than not._

_There was Karma, my mother. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to understand each other, but I hope we figure it out someday. She’s in charge of cycles._

_There was Serendipity, my mother’s true love…_

_She never knew what she was doing when it came to me. Responsible, consistent parenting was not in her nature, but the few moments of my childhood where I felt truly safe and unconditionally loved were in her arms. Her gift has served me well, though some still say it’s a curse._

_And there was Calamity… That man scares me. I’ve tried to tell the other Celestials about him a thousand times, but they never seem to remember. His destructive power is incredible, but I suppose there are some things in this world that desperately need to be destroyed._

_Whatever the light side to his darkness, something powerful that I do not understand protects him. He may well be my father._

_Though to be fair, that is merely conjecture. I have no idea who my father is. I’m a child of rape, and my mother doesn’t speak of what happened to her._

_Well… That’s not entirely true. Once in her sleep I heard her whisper, “Something Other, something Older, something from Outside…”_

_I have never been able to figure out what that meant._

_Suffice it to say, my mother viewed me as a responsibility, but it was clear that she could barely look at me without that nightmare flashing in front of her eyes. Love was there, but it was always tainted with pain._

_Many a Celestial tried to bring her solace, but the problem with moving in circles is that you can never really move forward._

_Balance can provide stasis, but not healing, that is the realm of change._

_Despite knowing this, once, when I was young, I grew frustrated with my mother. She had been saying how all she needed was to find the one who’d hurt her and hurt him back and then she would be healed._

_I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I told her that wasn’t how it worked. And she clawed my ear near in twain._

_It still has a notch to this day._

_To her credit, her rage left her as soon as my blood hit her paw and she reached out to embrace me in apology._

_But the damage was done. It was one cruelty too many, and I left._

_I knew there was nowhere in the Celestial realm where she could not find me, so I resolved to flee to the Earth, a place no Celestial would follow._

_But before I could depart for the mortal realm, Serendipity found me. She begged me to stay, knowing my absence would cause my mother no end of grief, and she had never truly meant to make me suffer…_  
  
But I couldn’t face her. Not then, not yet. So Serendipity went to her mounds of treasure and gave me her greatest gift.

_Hope._

_Not, faith, not an empty promise, but Hope that I could some day heal._

_It was real and warm… I embraced her before I left, but I left all the same._

_And if you are still reading, if you have not thrown away this book in disgust for my endless, terrible blasphemy, then I want to bring that Hope to you._

_I do not want worship. I do not want praise. I am not here to bring glory to my name._

_I just want to help. I Hope this book is a start._

#

 

The masked rabbit closed the book. “Let us pray.”

 

Prayer, as it turned out was a communal activity.

 

One by one the congregants filed up to the podium and spoke about their lives.

 

“…My ex keeps hammering on my door. Sometimes I’m scared to walk to work… If someone would walk with me, keep me safe…”

 

“…I saw some chickens in cages as I was working at the market today. It reminded me of what I did all those years ago and I wanted to puke. I need a distraction, bad. I need to channel my passions… my lusts… elsewhere…”

 

“… I still feel that cold spot there where my husband used to lie. I know it’s been years, but… I just need help getting over it... Over him…”

 

“… The doctor said I’m getting bedsores… That I need to keep them clean or I might… I knew when I ended up in the chair my life would suck, but this is… It’s too much…”

 

And on and on it went. There were mammals that had had horrible things done to them, mammals who had done horrible things, and mammals that had just been born with bad luck. More than a few disabled people forced their way to the podium.

 

And as they prayed, mammals in the audience raised their paws and offered help. Small things, an hour of yard work, or a few extra dollars for someone’s rent, but every prayer received an answer of some sort, at least the ones to the congregation. Some prayers went directly to The Wanderer.  

 

Some mammals passed, saying they chose to pray in silence. Francine was not one of them.

 

She gingerly made her way to the podium, stepping around smaller mammals as she went to say her piece. She let out a breath, and began.

 

“My mom died this week. I… I don’t know how I feel about it. She… She had darkness and light, just like everyone else and I feel like-”

 

She shook her head. “I feel like I’ve lost something important. Even after what she did to Satya, what she did to me. I know she did terrible things to me in the end, but you’ve gotta understand... She took me to a silly theme park when I was little once, just because Amanda had made the honor roll and I was down about an F. She’s the woman who would take us for ice cream after soccer practice and who shouted down my principle when I got bullied for being mixed race. She…”

 

Francine looked down. “She wasn’t perfect before the rape or anything. She yelled at me, she broke my things once or twice, sometimes I was even a little scared of her.”

 

She hugged at her chest. There were no tears, but she was trembling slightly. “She was my mom though. She was there for me. I still don’t know how to reconcile who she was with what she did. And now that she’s gone… I guess I never will.”

 

She let out a breath. “I… I don’t have anything to pray about.” She looked up. “I guess I’d like to keep my job. Maybe. I wasn’t very good at it, but I was starting to feel like I could… do something I guess.”

 

She bowed her head. “May your Hopes stay strong.”

 

That said, she sat down.

 

Instantly, the rats next to her scurried up and embraced her side. She returned the hug gently with her trunk.

 

The last few members of the congregation finished up their prayers and the rabbit returned to the pulpit. “If there are no more prayers, then we will begin the lottery. Sanctum Keepers, if you will.”

 

_Lottery?_

A small group of mammals, including the older elephant who had driven Francine here and still looked frustratingly familiar, pulled out a velvet sack and started walking around the room with it.  Each member of the congregation grudgingly pulled out a white ball from it as it passed them.

 

Francine sighed with relief when she pulled out her white ball.

 

Of course, as luck would have it, mine was red.

 

The rabbit nodded. “We have a winner.” He said, evenly. “All those who wish to stay may, but only the winner and Sanctum Keepers need stay for the post service.” He bowed his head. “May your Hopes stay strong.”

 

I was left, utterly confused as most of the other mammals filed out. I walked up to the pulpit and narrowed my eyes at the masked rabbit. “Okay, what is this all about?” I said, pointing to the ball.

 

The rabbit lowered his ears. It looked bizarre with those of the mask standing tall. “First, I owe you an apology. I convinced myself that scaring you would protect my flock, but in honesty it was just a selfish act.”

 

That made even less sense. “Selfish? Sir… Father? I nearly put a half-dozen bullets in you.”

 

The rabbit sighed. “I know. In any case we have more pressing business. I need to transfer your winnings.”

 

I crossed my arms, already getting a bad feeling about this. “Really? What did I win?”

 

The rabbit pulled a small necklace from his shirt. “An ordination.” He said.

 

He put the necklace in my paw. “I hereby pass the High Priesthood of the Church of the Wanderer to you.”

 

He bowed, deeply and sincerely, “Welcome to the church, Father Wilde.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to DeadDireWolf for pre-reading this chapter, as well as VariableMammal for his wonderful descriptions of Zootopian religions.


	9. Rotten Weeds

_Judy_

No matter how many photos I saw of her, there was always a part of my brain that thought of Dharma Hathee as some kind of nightmarish _thing_.

 

I knew intellectually, and even from personal experience, that some mammals could do utterly horrific things while looking like the sweetest people in the world, but some part of my brain couldn’t grasp that a normal mammal was capable of what she had done. I couldn’t imagine the face in Francine’s nightmares as some softly wrinkled old lady who looked like she knitted mittens for her grandchildren and baked cookies every Sunday.

 

And yet, there she was, right there through the glass, laying on a cold steel table in the city morgue. Rodents in hazmat gear crawled through the perfect Y incision in her chest, taking pictures, making notes… it would have been disturbing if it hadn’t felt so detached.

 

A squirrel in a lab coat came towards me. “Officer Hopps?” He held out a paw. “Roger Nutterson, Senior Medical Examiner… I was told you had some questions about our report?”

 

I nodded, blankly, taking the paw mechanically. “Thank you. The first thing you can tell me is why there are still people in her. I thought the report you gave me was complete.” Frankly I was surprised anyone was here at this hour of the night.

 

The Squirrel glanced away, looking somewhat nervous. “Well… to be perfectly honest it _was_ but this isn’t some Jane Doe. The Hathee construction company has already been breathing down our necks to give us details and we know that when the report goes public and trust me it’s a when, not if…”

 

“… You’re trying to make sure all of your ‘i’s are dotted and ‘t’s are crossed so no one ends up suing you for any sort of misconduct.” I said, finishing the thought.

 

Nick was rubbing off on me.

 

The examiner nodded. “More or less. Would you like to take this to my office? I have to admit, I was surprised to hear you were down here-”

 

“I wanted to see her.” I said, cutting off the inevitable question. “In person, at least once.”

 

The squirrel blinked. “Um… Alright.”

 

There was a long, awkward pause as I looked down on the massive corpse and let the image cement in my mind.

 

“So…” Roger said, finally, breaking the silence. “My office?”

 

I let out a breath. “Sure.”

#

 

Roger’s office reminded me of home.

 

It was warm, covered in photos of him and his family and piled high with nick-nacks and crayon drawings.

 

The only things that betrayed that it was a coroner’s office were the anatomy charts and x-rays.

 

He pulled a thick file from his desk and opened it up to a picture of the elephant’s heart, which as it turned out was not a black, shriveled little walnut.

 

“As you can see officer, Miss Hathee was already in serious danger of a cardiac attack even before she was poisoned.” He pointed to the ruler next to the heart. “Her heart shows severe hypertrophy, it enlarged itself in a losing battle to try and improve her blood flow. The warfarin was just the final straw that broke its back.”

 

Something about that sounded funny to me. “Warfarin is a blood thinner, right? Wouldn’t that have _helped_ her if she had a problem with her blood flow?”

 

The squirrel nodded. “To be honest if it was carefully administered by a medical professional in a controlled dose it very well could have, but given the other medications she was taking, it seems to have resulted in a previously inactive clot being thrown into her circulatory system and causing a full myocardial infarction… Um, a heart attack.” He added, providing me with the layman’s terms.

 

I sat back in the chair, mulling that over. “So, would someone have had to have a degree of medical expertise to pull this off? Or at least access to the drug?”

 

He grimaced. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid not. Warfarin is so easy to synthesize it’s been made by accident on multiple occasions. All you would need to pull this off is some moldy sweet clover and a pill press.”

 

I faintly remembered stories of some of the local cows falling ill from moldy sweet clover after some heavy rains had hit back home, but I was too young at the time to remember the details. “How about how it got into her system in the first place? Would the killer have needed to dress the fake pill up to look like one of her other pills? How about hiding the smell?”

 

The squirrel shook his head. “Warfarin’s got a nasty history due to its difficulty to be detected by scent. Only a trained canid or someone who knew specifically what they were sniffing for could have picked it out. As for her telling the difference by sight…”

 

He shrugged. “To be honest, the woman had cataracts a mile wide and she was taking enough medications that the killer could have just swapped it out for whatever happened to look closest to their poison pill.”

 

 I felt my ears droop. This was not the smoking gun I was hoping for. Still, I had one more burning question. “Why wasn’t an autopsy performed before she even got to her funeral? Aren’t they standard procedure?”

 

The squirrel buried his head in his paws. “Yes… They are… But Amanda Hathee requested her body remain untouched.”

 

My ears perked up. The sister! Of course! This was just the evidence I needed to-

 

“But to be fair, nearly every elephant in Zootopia gets the same request.” The squirrel finished.

 

I blinked. “What? Why?”

 

The squirrel took off his glasses and rubbed at them in frustration. “Two very good questions… Look, as far as I can tell, the Elephant version of Karmanism places a heavy emphasis on purity of the body when it’s returned to the earth. Maybe it was a deliberate concealing of evidence, but it could have just been an ordinary religious decision.” He let out a deep sigh. “Honestly, this has been an issue in more than one investigation in the past.”

 

 He pointed to a signature on his forms. “Also, we didn’t even need a subpoena to get the autopsy. Amanda called us up as soon as she got wind her mother might have been murdered and gave her consent, and the executor of her estate followed shortly after.”

 

I frowned at the paperwork. Amanda had the most obvious amount to gain from her mother’s death, and the most access to her mother’s medications. Consenting to the autopsy could have just been a way to throw off suspicion…

 

But I didn’t have anything solid.

 

I yawned involuntarily. The squirrel tilted his head at me. “Are… Are you okay?”

 

I held up a paw. “I’m fine. Can I get a copy of those consent forms?”

 

He nodded. “Of course. I’ll fax them to your office.”

 

I managed a polite smile. “Thank you Roger, you’ve been very helpful.”

 

That said, I picked myself up and started for the exit.

 

I could only hope that whatever lead Nick was following it was panning out better than mine.

 

#

 

_Francine_

 

Unsurprisingly, Nick said, “No. Also, fuck you.” and dropped the necklace on the floor.

 

Jack nodded, scooping up the holy symbol and clicking it back into place. “Fair enough, I suppose I’ll carry on. Thank you for visiting our church, feel free to come back any time.” He turned to Nandi. “So, in any case, you said you’d had some problems getting people for clean up detail by the homeless shelter…”

 

I tapped Nick on the shoulder. “C’mon Nick. Let’s hitch a ride before we end up guilted into working a bake sale.”

 

The fox looked up at me, then back to the rabbit, a look of utter confusion on his face. “Wait… What? That’s it?”

 

The rabbit paused mid sentence and turned around. “Yes, that is all. You were offered a job, you rejected the offer. The Wanderer frowns on pressuring people to join our congregation and certainly despises forcing people into labor they do not desire. This is a place of healing, not a press gang.”

 

Nick’s eye twitched. “What- then- Why did you just up and offer me your job?”

 

Nandi sighed, the older elephant obviously tired of having this conversation.  “It is a check on his power Rick… Nick? Anyway, the High Priest offers their position to a congregant at random at the end of every sermon, that way, if someone in the congregation feels strongly enough that the person in charge is doing a terrible job, they can replace them in time. The high priest can also be removed by a vote from the council of sanctum keepers, us.”

 

She gestured to a motley crew of mammals behind her. One coyote vaguely waved.

 

Nick narrowed his eyes. “Wait… So the high priest is just your puppet?”

 

Now it was Jack’s turn to sigh. “No, they have their own checks and balances and their positions have much more to do with cleaning the church after a given meeting and answering as many congregant prayers as they can. They can also be voted out… Look, are you going to sit here all night questioning the structure of our clergy?”

 

 Nick held up a finger… then shut his mouth with a sigh. “Whatever. Have fun with your creepy cult. C’mon Francine, let’s leave this place forever.”

 

That said he stuffed his hands in his pockets and trudged out the door.

 

I followed, honestly a little demoralized.

 

As we were walking through the tunnel I considered the puzzle that had always been Nick Wilde. He made police work look easy, what with his joking attitude and razor sharp grasp of the law and procedure, but I’d always felt like something was a bit… off about him.

 

We weren’t exceptionally close, especially considering my feelings for Judy, but I’d talked to him once or twice and our conversations had always seemed too easygoing, too shallow.

 

I guess there was something in his eyes that reminded me of myself. That was never a good sign.

 

“Did you really think our church is a creepy cult?” I asked, plodding along behind him.

 

Nick shot a look over his shoulder. “Let’s see here, you’ve got a small group of disenfranchised people coming together around some weird mystical shit lead by a charismatic dude with a dark past… It doesn’t exactly scream ‘healthy spirituality’ to me.”

 

When he put it that way I got why he was nervous. “Still… The church doesn’t ask much… And Jack’s not always the priest… And Red Wolf’s teachings, though apocryphal to the larger celestial pantheon, have been around for many thousands of-”

 

The fox turned around. “Okay, for real, do you need help?” His expression was entirely serious. “Because I’ve seen crap like this eat my friends before, and it seems like you’ve been chugging that Koolaid pretty hard.”

 

I looked down, eyeing the cracked cement beneath me. I struggled to find the right words. “These people… they were there for me when things got really bad Nick. They’ve been there for a lot of people. The Wanderer is ten pounds of crazy in a five pound bag, but it’s… comforting to think that someone’s looking out for you.” I shook my head. “Some days I really, really need that.”

 

Nick rubbed at the bridge of his snout, clearly not happy with my answer. “I get that… sort of. But you know damn well these people aren’t safe.”

 

I let out a sad chuckle. “I’m not safe Nick. I put my partner in the hospital just today.”

 

His eyes went wide.

 

“He asked me to.” I said, suddenly afraid of self-incrimination. “Fangmeyer can confirm. Still…” I covered my eyes with my trunk, “It was a seriously dumb move.”

 

Nick looked at me for a moment, gauging my response. Then he turned around and marched away. “They don’t pay me enough for this shit…”

 

“Thank you.” I said, following after him.

 

“What for?” He asked, not bothering to turn back around.

 

I shrugged. “Implying I was a friend.”

 

“Sure thing Penny.”

 

That said, we reached the end of the tunnel, and emerged into the dim, frozen night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to DeadDireWolf for pre-reading.


	10. Friends and Family

_Satya_

           The doors of the world’s most inclusive train opened, and I stepped out into the city.

           As I walked up out of the terminal I had to say the hadn’t changed much. I was worried after the troubles Zootopia had faced last year there wouldn’t be much to visit. But it was still  Zootopia. A massive concrete jungle of gleaming spires that climbed up to the heavens filled with parks and billboards.

           And mammals. A seemingly infinite variety of mammals wandered the streets of all different kinds. I saw lions buying coffee from Zebras, day owl bats soaring through the air while sunglass wearing opossums waved to them from the street lights…

           My eyes were glued to the skyline as I wandered through the street. Even hours later my back still hurt a bit from being curled up so much on the plane trip, but I found myself standing tall to combat the vertigo.

           One change was that now there were TV screens everywhere. They were all advertising the latest products, the latest fashions, the latest dancers… It was impossible to not get caught up in the activity and chaos…

           At least until a rhino walked straight into me, his horn bouncing off of my shirt as he staggered back.

           My head snapped down instantly. I held out my paws in apology. “Oh geeze, are you okay?”

           The little mammal glared up at me. He was wearing a rumpled suit and carrying a lidded coffee cup. “I’d be better if you’d _watch_ _where you’re going_!”

           He huffed up the street, muttering something about “idiot tuskers with their heads in the clouds”.

           I smiled. “Home sweet home…”

#

_Nick_

           I had never seen Judy like this before.

          She’d been speaking in nothing but monosylables since she picked me up. Her expression was even, controlled…

          She was reminding me of me. That was never a good thing.

          She parked the cruiser and stepped out, gesturing for me to follow with curt, military precision.

          I fell in line, head hanging low.

          This was going to suck.

          She marched inside, and I did my best to follow, staying out of sight, but in ear shot. The people in the atrium were shooting glances at us, wondering what the hell had happened.

          Honestly I was doing the same thing.

          A cruller dropped from Clawhauser's lips as we approached the front desk. "Uh... Judy?"

          The rabbit snapped her head up. "Is Bogo in his office?"

          The cheetah twitched. "Uh... Yeah, he's upstairs, but-"

          "Thank you." She marched past his desk and right up the stairs.

        When she forced her way into the chief’s office, Higgins was there, going over some files with the man himself. The hippo stopped as the rabbit bust through the door. His eyebrow rose. "Um... Hopps?"

      The rabbit turned to the buffalo, her eyes unwavering.

       At first the chief of police looked like he was going to bite our heads clean off…

       But then he noticed our combined expressions and his glare fell away.

       Higgins raised a paw. "Uh... What's going on here?"

        Judy turned her head, slowly, and precisely to the hippo. "Higgins. Leave. You do not want to be here."

        Higgins was two tons of muscle and five years Judy's senior. I had personally seen him slam through a brick wall.

        But when he saw the look in that Rabbit's eyes he just calmly nodded, picked up his files and left.

        For a moment, everyone was silent. You could have cut the tension in the room with a knife.

        And then Judy did the last thing I expected. She let out a breath, turned to Bogo and said perfectly calmly: "Here are the reasons that it is a waste of department time and resources to investigate Francine Pennington."

        The chief met her gaze, evenly if somewhat sadly. He said nothing.

        "Point number one," Judy began. "The only legitimate reason we would even have for investigating her is that she has a good motive. However, this motive is nearly a decade old and while during her case she showed great interest in having her mother get locked up, she never once threatened her with violence."

         Bogo's expression was unchanged.

         "Point number two," Judy continued, "Francine is not equipped to pull off something like this off socially. She is well known in the elephant community as 'the girl who tried to imprison her own mother'," Judy got a nasty look on her face as she said that. "…meaning she is unlikely to be able to get in through the front door of her mother's house, and even in the Amber Plateau elephants aren't known for their stealth."

          She held up a finger. “And for the record, I asked around. No one has seen her there in ages.”

          The chief nodded vaguely.

          "Point three," Judy said, with more than a little venom creeping into her voice. "Given her past trauma and position in the ZPD, Francine is one of the few people in Zootopia who we have a full psychological profile of, and while her therapist said she was prone to some small bursts of anger, she scored very high on her empathy testing, making her extremely unlikely to commit pre-meditated murder."

           The chief remained quiet… But there was tension growing in his eyes.

           The rabbit pulled a file from her jacket. She leapt up on Bogo’s table and slammed it down in front of him. “But you already know all of that. Some hunch is _not_ why you violated procedure and convinced an emotionally vulnerable officer to spy on her for you.”

           She flipped open the file, revealing a number of forms. “Francine Pennington, placed into the custody of a legal guardian following consent of her mother and concerns of law enforcement. Legal guardian: Detective Arthur Bogo.”

           She glared up at the buffalo. “You know, I’m insulted you thought I wouldn’t find documentation on that. There’s quite a lot of it considering she lived at your house for _two whole years._ ”

           A silence fell over the room once more. After a moment the buffalo looked down and stated simply “I’m sorry.”

           My partner’s eye twitched. “Is that all you have to say for yourself!? You violated every procedure in the book and manipulated my partner into spying on your own _daughter_ and you’re just going to sit there and say ‘I’m sorry’!?”

           “She’s not my daughter.” He said. The words felt hollow. “I offered to adopt her, but she didn’t want a parent. Not after…”

           He faded off, shaking his head. He pulled out his gun and his badge and plopped them on the table. “I suppose you’ve already reported my misconduct?”

           Judy narrowed her eyes. “No.” She pulled out her oh so famous carrot pen. “ _You_ reported your misconduct. What happens to that report depends on your choices.”

           She held out her left paw. “You can keep using department resources to spy on your family members-”

           For a moment, a flame lit in the Buffalo’s eyes, “I told you, she’s not-”

           “ _That is not how family works and you fucking know it!”_ The rabbit spat.

           It was so venomous, so uncharacteristic, it stopped Bogo right in his track.

           The rabbit continued, holding out the paw with her pen. “Or you can reassign this case to Precinct Four, stop using your position as police chief for family squabbles,  and _apologize_ to your daughter for being her second worst parent.”

           The buffalo stared at the rabbit for a moment, then sighed. “There’s a lot of competition in that bracket.”

           Judy shook her head. For a moment, there was no fury in her voice, only a kind of sadness. “There really, really isn’t.”

           She hopped off the table and gestured to me. “Come on Nick. We’re taking the day off.”

           I followed, leaving the office behind.

           I’m not sure if anyone else had heard anything, but the whole station’s din seemed muted somehow.

           As my partner made her way to the stairs I held out my paw. “Judy…”

           She paused, turning around. “Yes Nick?”

           I struggled to find the words. She’d said nothing to my literally phoned in apology. “I-”

           She held up a paw. Her eyes were kind. “Nick, it’s okay. You were used. It happens.” Her ears fell. “It’s happened to me.”

           She was right of course. She had.

          It was the perfect out.

         But it didn’t feel right. “Judy I…” I shook my head. “I didn’t want you to know about the investigation. I thought that if you got it in your head that harmless, lazy-bones Francine was a murderer, then it would… break you.” I felt a shiver run down my spine. “You know, the way I’m broken.”

          She put a paw on my arm. “You’re not broken Nick.” Her expression tightened slightly. “And, for the record you’re not the only one here that’s damaged.”

           She turned away. “Fire can shatter, but it can also forge.”

          I blinked. “Uh… What?”

           She started back down the stairs. “Nothing, now come on. There’s something we need to do.”

           I followed after her. “What’s that?”           

#

_Francine_

           Danielle had left me a written list of several “Suggestions” for how I should straighten up the place in advance of Satya’s arrival.

           As I scrubbed my meager collection of plates and scratched up pots, I had to admit she was probably right. I had been slacking on my chores lately… okay, always, but she could have explained it in a less passive aggressive way.

           I dropped a mostly pristine plate in the dish rack and sighed.

           Startlingly, knowing that you’re a complete mess does not actually help you to stop being a complete mess. You’d think it would, and certainly it makes you _try_ to be less of a mess. In fact, I had six separate to-do lists on my door, in my own hand writing no less. The problem is that the oldest was about a year old and I’d never really bothered to take them down… Or check off everything on them.

           I started on the next dish and wondered how much Danielle’s guilt tripping was responsible for the apartment’s relative cleanliness. Was I doomed to forever require nasty flatmate prodding to get the most basic of things done? Was I just some leech that-?

           “Uh… Francine? Are you okay?”

           I turned my head, blinking at the teenage rat on the counter. “Alan!” I hadn’t talked to him since the disastrous conversation in my room. I raised an eyebrow. “Wait… aren’t you supposed to be out with your moms and the little ones?”

           They had taken an impromptu day trip so Satya and I could have some privacy. It made sense, and the little ones had needed to stretch their legs, but I really wished Carly was here.

           Alan leaned back against his mother’s weight set (Carly liked to work out on the counter) and let out a breath. “Yeah… I wanted to apologize and stuff. Tell you something. I told the moms I needed a bit of space for it.”

           I raised an eyebrow. “Tell me something? What’s up?” My head filled with a thousand fears (though if he was gay this was going to be really anti-climactic).

           He looked from left to right. “You might want to sit down…”

           I sat down. “Okay, Alan, you’re scaring me.”

           He let out a grim chuckle. “I’m scaring myself.” He sighed. “Here goes…”

           “I have leukemia.” He said.

#

_Satya_

           I had never seen a more terrifying door in my life. And I’d rung Dharma Hathee’s office.

           Francine’s name was right on her apartment’s buzzer. All I had to do was press it and I’d get to see someone I loved who I hadn’t shared the same room with in almost a decade.

          The girl I put through excruciating...

           I shook myself, taking a few deep breaths. _It’s okay Satya, you’ve got this. You are a good elephant who is visiting a friend in need. You just have to tear off the bandaid so you can start helping each other heal…_

_Well… At least that’s what your shrink said, and she’s usually pretty sharp, so just stop being a baby and do it._

           Slowly, I reached out my trunk-

           And Francine burst through the apartment door, looking wide eyed and twitchy. She was wearing a wet apron and carrying a teenage rat on her shoulder.

           She blinked at me with bloodshot eyes. “Hi Satya! I’m terribly sorry, but my life is a massive dumpster fire and keeps shitting in my face every five minutes, so I’m going to need a little while before we have our horrifying nightmare chat.”

          She pointed to the rat on her shoulder. “This is Alan. I love him, he has cancer, and I need to stuff him full of ice cream like yesterday.”

           The rat waved nervously. “’sup?”

           My eyes went wide. “Wait, wha-”

           She tossed a bunch of keys at me. “I’m on the second floor, make yourself at home. Be back soon. Thanks!”

           That said, she sprinted down the street and I was left standing there trying to process what had happened. I think I stood there trying to make sense of it for a full minute and I probably would have spent longer if I hadn’t heard someone clearing their throat at my feet.

           To my shock, a fox and a rabbit were staring up at me, holding casserole dishes three times their size.

           “Um… I’m sorry if this is an imposition,” The rabbit said, “But could you ring the Pennington residence for us?” She gestured  to the doorbell with her ears. “I could jump it, but I don’t want to lose track of the casserole.”


	11. Little Talks

_Francine_

               There were a lot of magical places in the city that didn't look very special at first glance. But, as per usual, appearances were deceiving.

               Take, for example, the Crossroads Grocery Store, a standard brick shop smooshed between a baby store and a tennis store in the middle of what would have been a strip mall if the town wasn't so packed together.

               Unlike some grocery stores that gain cult followings on the internet or show up in tourist magazines as "hidden gems of the city" or something like that, the Crossroads didn't have a claim to fame. It deserved one, but it definitely didn't have it.

               When I'd first encountered the place with its crappy uncured wooden shelves, chalk board signs and piles of dried goods I'd only ever seen in the occasional pop-up bazzar I  couldn't help but wonder if it was some kind of front for the drug trade.

               Fortunately the restaurants on the other side of the street proved me wrong on that count. It wasn't so much a grocery store as a miniature supply warehouse for the fancy places nearby.

               I'd found the place back when I was living with Bogo. You only had to get kicked out of Jumbeauxs once to realize that it had the attitude to go along with its 1950's decor and Crossroads was the only other place in town that carried 20 gallon drums of fudge ripple.

               As I made my purchase, the turban wearing Liger behind the counter asked if I was okay. Considering that the first time I'd come in I couldn't stop rambling about how 'different' and 'unique' the place was  (I swear I was trying to be nice...) this was a major social interaction.

               I just shot him a grim smile and shook my head. "Sorry Rashid, nothing you can do about it thanks for asking though."

               The liger looked less than convinced, but took my money and gave me my purchase anyway. I then headed out the rear exit and sat down on the large size table behind the shop.

               It wasn't  much of a seat, given that it was ten feet from a dumpster, but there was a bit of grass on the ground underneath it and a determined evergreen on the other side.

               There was probably an optimistic metaphor in there somewhere, but for the life of me I couldn't see it.

               Alan climbed out of my pocket and hopped down to the table with practiced ease. I winced. I couldn't help it. "You sure you should be doing that?" It was the equivalent of a three story drop after all.

               The teenager groaned. "See, _this_ is why I waited so long to tell you."

               I raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? How long have you _known_?"

               He sighed. "Two weeks. Give or take... I'd have to check the calendar."

               My eyes went wide. _"Two weeks?_ Why the hell aren't you on chemo or radiation or something?"

               He held up his paws defensively. "I am okay? I just... I started last week and the whole hair loss thing takes a bit... Plus we had to find somewhere that would take mom's insurance."

               I grimaced. There were a lot of things that were less expensive if you were a rodent. Housing, food, electricity...

               Medical care wasn't one of them. Careful administrations of tiny drug doses and microsurgical reconstructions... You could do it, but it wasn't cheap. The mortality rate was high and the insurance deductibles were murderous. Literally.

               I put my Trunk around him. "We're going to figure this out okay? I earn elephant bucks remember? I'll... I'll figure something out."

               He smirked, sadly. "Yeah. I mean, the doc gave me a 52% chance so... Odds are in my favor."

               I blanched. "Wanderer above dude, why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

               He rubbed at his temples. "Because... Gah! I don't... Fuck it, I was just starting to pry a little bit of respect out of you and I didn't want to flush it down the toilet."

               I blinked. "What?"

               He buried his head in his paws, sitting down on the tabletop. "Look... I asked the moms to chill out and let me tell you  because... I guess... I just feel so overpowered by you."

               A little piece of me broke inside. "Oh..."

               He held up his paws. "I know you love me and all that dumb crap. I know you'd never do anything to hurt me on purpose and Celestials do I know that you've got your own crap to deal with, but... I mean, you're an _elephant_ Francine."

               He shook his head, "Imagine spending your entire life knowing you're always going to be physically overpowered by a person and then needing to tell them that you're even weaker... That you're going to spend years worrying that the wrong strong breeze is going to..."

               His paws clenched. "You were just starting to treat me like I wasn't a baby anymore. Like I could think for myself, fend for myself a little and now..."

               I wrapped my trunk around him, gently with the tip so he could leave if he wanted.

               He leaned into it instead.

               We were both quiet for a moment as I basked in the warm, soft smell of his fur. The sun was bright, the birds were chirping, and all I wanted to do was cry.

               But the tears wouldn't come. The chaos of the previous days was starting to flat out numb me. So I just stayed still.

               "You know," He said, finally. "I lied before. Heck, you're probably more of a mom to me than Danielle is."

               I squeezed him, very carefully, just a little tighter. "Don't say that... Besides I can barely get myself out of bed in the morning while Danielle's like a real mom, the kind who tells you to brush your teeth and pick up your toys and do your homework and..." I sighed, "Sometimes life is crappy and you have to work to make it better. She gets that. I was just around earlier while Carly was sorting out her shi- crap."

               He shot me a look. "I'm sixteen. You can say shit. Hell, you did earlier."

               I grunted. "Okay, so this is a shitty, fucked up situation and I hope whatever asshole gods are responsible for it get their tightwad celestial anuses inverted for it."

               He chuckled, wiping away a tear I hadn't even seen. "There we go." He blinked. "Um... Not that I'm not glad that we had this little heart to heart, but was it a good idea to leave your rapist in charge of the apartment?"

               I groaned honestly I'd nearly forgotten about that. "She's not my rapist... Well, I guess technically... Look, she's my friend and she's like the most competent person I know. She can handle a little awkward."

#

_Judy_

               Somehow, I'd managed to make the situation even _more_ awkward.

               "Uh... There there?" The beautifully dressed elephant said, patting my head as my grip around her leg loosened.

               The hug had seemed like a good idea at the time. I stepped back. "Sorry... It's just. What happened to you... It's awful." I looked away, ears drooping. "I've seen it before."

               Satya looked away. "I'm not sure it's the same."

               Nick did his best to whistle nonchalantly. "So... Um... Francine's place is nice, huh?"

               I wasn't dissuaded (also, as cavernous as it was for me, Satya was clearly bending over and I couldn't imagine the place being any more comfortable for Francine). "How is what happened here not the same? I've seen more than a few people drugged up on night howlers who got forced into doing terrible things to people they loved. Your situation is exactly the same except it was testosterone instead."

               The elephant cringed. "If you punch someone while having a siezure, that's understandable, that's an involuntary reaction that you can't be blamed for. As far as I can tell, Night Howler is like that. Testosterone on the other hand..." She shook her head, reaching up her paws to gesture as she spoke. "It'll screw you up, that's for sure, and it was even worse for me considering my brain is wired female, but... It just makes you more aggressive, more horny, more filled with rage..." She dropped her paws. "It doesn't fundamentally change who you are."

               Nick sighed. "I dunno about that. I remember getting into some stupid crap when I was a teenager. I had to unlearn a lot of bad habits after that... Besides," He snapped his gaze up to the elephant and there was steel in it. "I read the toxicology report. You were positively swimming in that stuff. Like, _massively_ overdosed."

               The fox shrugged. "A cup of coffee might not make you jump up the walls, but sixty sure will." he looked down. "Everything is relative."

               Satya let out a breath. "And there lie the questions that haunts my dreams." She gestured vaguely with her trunk. "How much do you need to be chemically altered before you are no longer you? Does it matter if you made a choice or had the change forced on you?" She shook her head. "I've gone around in circles on that with my therapist for nearly a decade."

               I groaned. This was an incredibly exhausting conversation. "Okay, you are obviously being way too hard on yourself and besides, look at you." I gestured to her _very_ ample figure, "If it was bad for the world for you to be on testosterone, that problem has obviously solved itself."

               She nodded. "Yeah... I'm not going to pretend that wasn't a big bonus for me when I transitioned... By the way, I'm glad you folks are so cool about all of that."

               I shrugged. "Whatever, I have two trans sisters."

               "Transistors?" Nick asked.

               I nearly corrected him before I noticed the grin on his face. I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I am related to electronics supplies."

               He stroked at his chin. "That explains your bionic super strength."

               I started to snark back... And then just smiled. "Good to see you're feeling a little better."

               He got a little self conscious at that. "Yeah... Well... You've got to spring back sometime. And don't sweat the trans biz from me either, I know everyone in this town. Besides, I'm in a towel war with an FTM guy."

               I raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what FTM guy?"

               Nick looked genuinely nonplussed. "Uh... Fangmeyer? He's pretty open about it."

               I blinked. "Seriously?" He was FTM? How did I not know this?

               "Wait," Satya interjected, "Isn't Fangmeyer that guy who Officer Trunkaby um... 'really needs to bang'?"

               Nick nodded sagely. "And how."

               _*Ding-Dong!*_

               Satya made a very low, very faint rumbling sound, almost by instinct it seems.

               Then, I heard the strangest, almost ghostly rumbling sound back.

               Nick blinked. "Um... What are you two-?"

               Satya held up her trunk. "I'm terribly sorry officer Wilde, if you could give me just one moment, please?" She made yet another rumbling sound, another response, a third rumble...

               She sighed. "Officers, if I could get you to accompany me downstairs, I would really appreciate it."

               I blinked. "Of course, but, why? What was that?"

               She winced. "We have potentially unfriendly company." That said she got up and Nick and I followed suit, exchanging an curious look.

               When we got downstairs, an elephant woman dressed in business attire (save for a curious red sash) greeted us. She was holding a sealed manila packet the size of me. "I'm terribly sorry for the interruption Mis...ter?"

               Satya let out a long breath. "It's Miss. Now, Francine isn't here, so whatever it is the Hathee family has to tell her can go through me." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the woman. I couldn't help notice how much taller Satya was standing next to her.

               The woman grimaced, looking to the side. "Um... I'm terribly sorry... Madam...? But I was told to deliver her invitation directly into her trunk."

               Nick perked up. "Wait, invitation? To what?"

               The business elephant blinked. "Why to the will reading of course."


	12. Not yet...

_ Francine _

 

I held the invitation in my trunk, keeping my eyes very pointedly on it and not the other elephant in my bedroom.

"So..." Satya said, about as easily as she could under the circumstances. "What do you think she left you?"

I let out a breath. "A bag of coal and a swift kick in the rear? Hell if I know, but I have to go."

"Why?" The elephant sitting on the other side of the bed asked. "You don’t need anything from her."

I chanced a glance in her direction. Wanderer had she become beautiful...

I closed my eyes. "Yes, I do. She might have left me something, anything that I could turn into money for Alan's cancer treatments."

"I could pay for those." She said, steel in her voice.

I felt a bit of prideful bile rise at that suggestion, but I knew now was not the time for it. "You could... You shouldn't have to."

The other elephant let out a breath. I still couldn't look at her directly, but I could almost feel her curling away. "Francine, it’s nothing to me. I have way more money than I deserve and I owe you everything, Literally everything."

I groaned. "You really, really don't..." I flopped back down on the bed, swimming in blankets and exhaustion. I could look at her back at least. "When did everything get so stupid?"

She snorted, a half smile rising to her face. "It's always been like that..." She eyed the door. "Are you sure you don't want me to open that?"

I rubbed at my eyes. "No... I know it's a bit stuffy in here, but it's the only place we can talk privately now that the little ones are home."

Honestly the little ones remained startlingly capable of thwarting the security door and I'd bet that even Carly with her big muscles could squeeze through the cracks if she tried, but I worked with what I had.

Satya didn't seem convinced. "It's not the stuffiness that worries me..."

"I'm not afraid of you." I lied, "I'm just... This is super weird."

"Yeah..."

"Uh huh..."

There was a pause.

"Your friends are nice." She said finally, "Alan, Carly, Nick, Judy..."

I shrugged, ruffling the blanket beneath me. "Those last two are just... I dunno. Heroes. I mean, not just in the whole save the city sense, I mean in the 'there to lift you up no matter what' sense."

Satya turned her head and blinked at me. "I don't get it."

I sighed, but I managed to not turn away. "It's not personal for them. They see mammals in pain and they rush to help. It's just who they are. It doesn't say anything about how they feel about me."

She tilted her head. "I'm going to level with you Francine: I have no idea if you're giving them too much credit there or not enough."

I snorted. "Yeah, well... When have I ever been a people person?

She smirked. "Fair."

I laughed. It felt good. Satya just sat there smiling.

I wiped my eyes. "You know, as stupid and crazy it is that you came here? I'm really glad you did."

She smiled. "Yeah, me too."

 

_ # _

 

_ Judy _

 

It was threatening to rain as we wandered back to the train station. I wasn't sure if it was that or the time of day that had cleared out the streets, but I was grateful for the relative quiet.

Francine had been polite and thanked us for the casserole. I think she was genuinely glad we came, but honestly she was hard to read. I could hardly blame her for wanting a little space.

"You know what I don't get?" Nick said as we reached the street light.

I perked up an ear. "What's that?"

"How did that delivery girl end up misgendering Satya?"

I blinked at him. "Wait... Out of all the insane questions that have filled our lives since this case started,  _ that's _ the one that's bothering you?"

He shrugged. "I mean, c'mon, look at her!" He made a gesture emphasizing her... Assets.

I snorted. "Well you're in luck slick, I can answer that one right now."

"Oh?" The crossing light flashed on and we leisurely made our way through the absolute lack of traffic.

"The courier was an elephant." I said simply. "She's tuned to pick up a billion things about other elephants that we can't."

Nick looked more than a bit uncomfortable with that explanation.

I winced. "I don't mean that in a speciesist way... At least I really hope I don't. I just mean... Look."

I turned around to face him. "Who we are, what we are, how we grow up... It all shapes how we see the world around us okay? Back in Bunny Burrow my sister Katie couldn't pass for cis at all, but the second she set up her game shop in Zootopia? Boom, fine."

I spread my arms out, indicating the dreary scenery behind us. "Most mammals don't know what a rabbit doe is supposed to look like in the first place... Okay maybe that's not the best phrasing."

He held up his paws. "No, it makes sense. We all see the world through the lens of what we're used to."

I snorted. "Yeah... Makes you wonder what we're missing out on huh?"

We kept walking, an unusual silence falling between us.

When we reached the train station I sighed, turning to Nick just one more time. "Do you want to come back to my place? Pop in a movie?"

He smirked at first... But his smile faded as he considered it. "Sorry Carrots. I..." He closed his eyes, clearly thinking what he would say through. "We both know how that's going to end... And don't get me wrong I  _ want _ it to end that way, but... I just don’t think we’re ready yet."

My ears fell and he quickly added. "Soon! Like, really soon... Just not tonight okay?"

I nodded, a little blankly, but understanding. "Okay."

That said, we exchanged an awkward hug that didn’t linger long enough and went to our respective lines.

I slipped in the doorway to the mostly empty train and sat down, mulling over the day's events. On the positive side, things were better with Nick, Francine seemed stable at least and I'd managed to put the case back on track...

But I still didn't know what I was supposed to do with those two. They had so much pain that I couldn't possibly understand. And they seemed keen to push my help away. I got that they needed to process some things on their own, but I just felt so powerless.

I took in a deep breath and let it out, steadying my nerves as I pulled out my phone. If I couldn't help them right now, then at least I could solve this case.

I paused for a moment, spotting the messenger app on my screen.

I texted Katie to see how she was doing and then I got right to work.

 

#

 

_ Nick _

 

The rain finally started when I reached my stop. I wondered briefly what my high school English teacher would have said about that and wandered bravely out into the rain. I made a point of ignoring the overpriced umbrella stands that had popped up like weeds on the sidewalk.

Three blocks later and some teeth chattering I made my way into my worn, but serviceable one bedroom apartment and hastily stripped, dumping my clothes into the hamper and getting the shower going in my miniscule bathroom.

Once it was hot enough I hopped in and took the time to let the rain's chill fade completely from my bones. I considered... relieving the day's tensions, but I honestly didn't think it would help at the instant.

I saved that for later and plopped on the couch, just staring at the blank TV for a moment.

I knew I should get up, cook dinner, do... something, but I just felt so drained by the day’s events I just sort of sat there.

Well, okay, I fell down onto the cushions and swapped from the TV to the ceiling fan, but that wasn’t much of an improvement.

And that's when my mind turned back to the case.

Yeah, yeah I know, carefree Nick Wilde thinking about work on his day off. What has the world come to? Believe it or not I used to do the exact same thing with hustles. I'd sit down and go through every piece of the plan in my head again and again until I fell asleep in a heap. Finn said it was because I was too anal to count vixens like a normal person, but honestly I just liked puzzles.

They reminded me that most things had some form of logical progression to them and kept me sane... ish.

I started with the bare facts. What did we know? Anaya Hathee, queen of a multi-billion dollar construction empire and rapist by proxy was murdered by a Poisoner who tried to make it look like ordinary heart failure.

The butler could have done it, but aside from it being a cliche I couldn't really think of a motive there, unless he was a beneficiary of the will... which was possible, but unlikely.

Granted the will was still hidden behind a pile of bureaucratic red tape and we wouldn't be able to see it until the subpoena came through tomorrow (apparently the law firm was looking for another firm to merge with and being visited by a ton of different mammals, so there was a bit of a management shakeup that complicated things even further), but it was fair to say the primary beneficiary was going to be Amanda Hathee, Francine's sister.

The sister could have done it, but why bother? She had money of her own to burn and her mom was on death's door anyway. Unless she had some kind of... time constraint? I made a mental note to look into her financials with more detail.

As for Francine... Carrots was dead on the money that she hadn't done it herself for obvious reasons. And she'd looked pretty darn shocked to find out her mom had left her anything at all so I doubted she had either the means or motive for a murder by hire.

Of course... Even if she didn't do it for herself someone could have easily done it for her. Her friend Satya had both the means in the form of resources and the motive. She could have gotten Francine revenge quite handily... Right when her mother was about to die. After eight years. Yeah. That made sense.

So where did that leave me? I needed someone small enough to sneak in, but big enough to carry an elephant sized pill, and unhinged enough to want to kill her in spite of it being a pretty moot point anyway...

My eyes went wide.

I snagged out the secured laptop from my morning kit and fired it up, desperately probing the public records of a one Jack Stripe, occupation: crazed anti-authoritarian cultist...

And found myself staring at the largest brick wall of sealed records and redacted files I'd ever seen.

The only thing I really found was his call sign.

But when you got called "The Savage..."


	13. The simplest solution

_ Satya _

 

There were some members of Francine’s adopted family that I knew extremely well. Nandi had provided me with tons of support right after the incident, Bogo had been assigned to our case (I tried so, so hard to get him to lock me up, but he just wasn’t having it), and I’d met Carly right after Francine did.

 

Danielle, though...

 

I wouldn’t say we were on bad terms. We had spoken once or twice during Francine’s weekly video chats and been perfectly cordial with each other. But it was hard to figure out how she felt about me. She was the kind of person who locked their feelings behind an iron gate and threw away the key... The kind of person who you either followed or got out of the way of.

 

Let me put it this way. If I was in a real-estate negotiation with her I would politely offer her some tea and ask her about her family to set the mood as low key as possible before starting the negotiation at exactly my minimum price and expecting to get low balled even then.

 

Of course, this wasn’t a business deal. This was a family deal.

 

They were much worse.

 

After Francine had passed out for the day I tiptoed back to the kitchen to find Carly and Danielle curled up in bathrobes on the tabletop nursing cups of tea as they leafed through a pile of papers.

“Late night?” I asked, more than a little pensive.

 

Carly looked up with a yawn. “Yeah… You know how it is, a paralegal never sleeps.”

 

“And neither does a mother.” Danielle said, not even looking up from her paperwork. “I’m terribly sorry Satya, but I’m afraid we can’t chat right now. We need to figure out where we can shave down our budget to cover these medical bills.”

 

Well, I wasn’t going to get a better opening than that. I cleared my throat.. “Actually I was hoping to talk to you about that.” I took in a deep breath and let it out. “Look, I know I am a… complicated figure in your life to say the least, but you folks are the closest thing I have to living family.” I gestured to the stack of bills. “If you need help with those, I just want you to know I’m here.”

 

To my surprise, Danielle looked elated. “Oh thank the goddess.” She immediately drew out a sheaf of bills from her stack. “This one is for the consultation and this one is for the first round of chemo. We got a second opinion so you’ll notice there are actually two consultation visits billed for along with all of the tests, but-”

“Whoa, whoa…” Carly interjected, holding up her paws. She turned to her wife with a nervous look. “Let’s just… Slow down for a minute here.”

 

She turned back to me and said with perfect assurance, looking way more respectable than I was used to seeing her. “Satya, thank you so much for the offer, but we’re okay.”

 

I raised an eyebrow. “You… You are?”

 

Danielle’s face was the most animated I’d ever seen it. Granted, it was animated with incredulous fury, but…

 

“Carly Pennington, have you lost your mind!?”

 

Carly blinked, backing slowly away. “Um… Sweetie?”

 

Danielle jabbed a finger in her wife’s chest. “Don’t you ‘Sweetie’ me! I don’t care what sort of pride based kick you’re going on with this, but we can’t afford to turn down help right now!”

 

Carly looked unsettled for a moment, but then her expression set firm. “Danielle, this isn’t right. We can’t just shake down a rape victim for money.”

 

I flinched. That was my least comfortable interpretation of the events for a number of reasons.

 

Danielle glared at her spouse, throwing up her arms and exasperation. “So what’s your plan!? Are you just going to give up on specialized treatment? Or that stem cell therapy you were so hot for? Are you going to keep working late nights for the next fifty years and never see the family you’re struggling so hard to pay off the bills for?”

 

Carly glared right back. “It’s better than-”

 

I cleared my throat. They both turned to me, their expressions… unhappy.

 

I held up my trunk. “Look. Clearly you two need to talk this out. I’ll be around town for a bit and you’ve got my number so just… You know, talk it out and let me know when you’re ready.”

 

That said, I slowly backed out the door.

 

To be honest. It had gone better than I’d expected.

 

#

 

_ Judy _

 

Roebuck and Engles was a law firm so highly esteemed that I’d heard of it before I even reached Zootopia.

 

At the time of its founding it was considered extremely progressive for an elephant and a reindeer to be running a business as equal partners, and though their offices were clearly built to Engles’ scale, the arbor of evergreens surrounding the grounds were clearly inspired by Roebuck’s culture…

 

At least that’s what the outdated, speciesist textbook I’d been given in elementary school had said. The building was huge, and it had a nice bunch of pine trees around it, so I had to give public education that much credit.

 

I grit my teeth as I walked into the lobby, trailing behind a giraffe who didn’t seem to even notice my existence.

 

I eyed my phone. Five minutes until my meeting. I full on leapt into a chair in the reception area and crossed my arms in frustration. A few of the other guests turned to look at the noise, but looked away when they saw my expression.

 

To say I was in a foul mood was an understatement. I had spent half the last night turning over witness statement after witness statement to see if anyone had seen anything suspicious at all around Amaya Hathee in the week leading up to her death and gotten nothing out of it but a drool stain on my desk and a crick in my neck.

 

No one had seen anything.

 

And, of course, making things worse, Nick and I were working on opposite sides of the city once again. Granted he’d told me what he was doing this time and he’d clearly put a little thought into his plan, but...

 

“So… what’s a doe like you doing in a place like this?” Came a voice from beside me.

 

With my train of thought completely derailed, II turned to my left to see a very well dressed rabbit buck. His suit was clearly designer and he had a real leather briefcase that must have cost a fortune. His fur was a simple grey. And he had a smirk from ear to ear.

 

I blinked at him and pointed to my badge. “Obviously I’m here on police business. Did the firm send you to meet me?” I had no other way to rationalize his approach and hadn’t been briefed on who I was meeting.

 

He shook his head, leaning forward onto the massive arm-rests between our seats. “Oh I don’t work for anyone. And before you ask, no, I don’t own this place. Yet.” 

 

He held out his paw. “Lionel Lavender, at your service. Head of Lavender, Lilac and Persimmon, premier law firm for Zootopia’s small mammal population and,” He gestured to the room around him, “soon enough, the controlling partner of this illustrious firm as well.”

 

I shook his paw, more than a little uncertainly. Still, he’d piqued my interest (from a purely investigatory standpoint). “So… you’re the party that’s merging with this firm?” 

 

He nodded, releasing my paw with a far too lingering touch. “Provided everything goes well during the discovery phase. So far my accountants, paralegals and financial advisors have turned up nothing but gold. It would appear the firm’s name still means something to its clients, even if its coffers are running low.” 

 

    He strode over to the back of the chair and leaned easily against it. “But enough about me. I’m far more interested in you Miss Hopps.”

 

    “ _ Officer _ Hopps.” I corrected. I raised an eyebrow, “You’re… Familiar with my work?”

 

    He nods. “Penny for the pretty lady. Indeed, I’ve been following your career quite closely. So many mammals think we rabbits are just ignorant bumpkins who can’t rise to the lofty heights of the larger species, but I think together we’ve proved them wrong.”

 

    He wandered over, positively sauntering at this point. “You know... I understand you have a busy day ahead of you, but everyone needs to eat. There’s a lovely little cafe just around the corner...”

 

    His paw came perilously close to my left ear and I caught him by the wrist, squeezing tight. “Mr. Lavender. You should know at least two things about this situation.” I let go of his wrist and he cradled it, shocked. “One, I am an officer of the law on duty. You do not  _ flirt _ with an officer while they are on duty. Two…” I crossed my arms. “You are not even slightly my type.”

 

    His expression soured as he shook out his wrist. “What are you, a lesbunny or something?”

 

    I smirked. “Nope.” I leaned in close and whispered in his ear. “I like  _ foxes _ .”

 

    His expression was torn somewhere between horror and disgust.

 

    Somehow, it just made me smile.

 

    “Officer Hopps?” the receptionist, a tall camel, appeared behind me. “Mr. Roebuck will see you now.”

 

    I smiled up at her. “Thank you.”

 

    That said I wandered off to my meeting with a positive spring in my step. And a terrified buck behind me.

 

    Francine was rubbing off on me.

 

#

 

_ Nick _

 

This time as I marched my way down the tunnel to the Church of the Wanderer, it was in my full tactical uniform.

 

    I was very aware of what I was up against here. Jack’s military experience was extensive, and odds were he’d infiltrated and killed quite recently…

 

    Still. We’d turned the place over the last time we were here. He wasn’t armed unless he had a stash somewhere… Or had re-stocked since our last encounter.

 

    I grit my teeth. It was time to be ready for anything.

 

    I opened the door to his little burrow, checking around the corner and found him sitting there at his kitchen table, cradling a mug of tea. He was still wearing that stupid mask, but I didn’t see any weapons on him. Cautiously I walked inside. 

 

    “Officer Wilde…” He said, leaning back and taking an easy sip. “All dressed up just for me? I’m flattered.”

 

    I said nothing.

 

    He put his mug down. “So, I take it you read my file? Or at least whatever redacted version they released to the public eye.”

 

   I narrowed my eyes at him. “There wasn’t much.”

 

    Jack tilted his head as though carefully sizing me up. “Then let me fill in the blanks for you. Tell me Wilde, have you ever interrogated someone before?”

 

    I kept my gaze steady. “Yes.”

 

    He nodded, “Of course you have. Probably using the standard police tactics. Maximization, minimization, good cop/bad cop, the works. I studied… different methods.”

 

    He shrugged. “A twist here, a nick there, and soon enough a mammal will tell you whatever you want to know.”

 

    “At least that’s the theory.” he continued, “In practice you’re more likely to get a pretty story that checks off all the right boxes to make you stop, accuracy be damned… But I was nothing if not determined. The brass wanted more accurate methods, and I was having fun. So I tried every trick in the book.” 

 

    He met my gaze, the mask rendering his expression completely placid. “Every, single, one.” 

 

    I growled at him. “You are full of shit.”

 

    He tilted his head. The mask still hid his expression, but I could hear the smirk in his voice. “Now now Wilde. You know that’s not true. You know that under certain regimes the Zootopian government would do just about anything to make its people feel safe.”

 

    He wandered over the sink, turned on the water and started rinsing his cup. “You also know when you’re looking at a predator. And I don’t mean a meat eater. You have intimate experience with mammals like me.”

 

    I opened my mouth to retort, but he held up a paw. “Oh I’m sure you feel like you’re a different person now, a ‘better mammal’ who fights for truth, justice and whatever else those in power like to pretend their pawns risk their lives for.”

 

    He pulled out his clean mug, putting it in the dish rack. His head swiveled towards me. “But I can see it in you. The same way you see it in me. You may not have killed yourself, but how many people did you watch Big flush away? How many tightly sealed boxes did you move through the docks with no questions asked?”

 

    “How many screams of pain did you ignore because it was ‘convenient?’”

 

    He looked me straight in the eye. “You look at me and you see yourself.”

 

    I fought the twisting in my guts and bared my teeth. The worst part was that if he’d done his dirty work on military orders he technically still hadn’t said anything I could make stick in court. 

 

    I needed this to work. I asked him plainly. “What did you do to Amaya Hathee?”

 

    He tilted his head. “Poor Francine’s putrid mother? Oh, so  _ she’s _ the one who brought you here.”

 

    He sat back down, putting his feet up on the table. “I have to admire the simplicity of your plan. Just show up, rattle my cage, hope I’ll let something slip? It’s a reasonable interrogation tactic. I should know.”

 

    He looked at me. “But that sort of thing only works on people who are afraid. And you don’t scare me Wilde. You have nothing on me. And you’re too much of a coward to do what needs to be done.”

 

    I raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

 

    He gestured to my gun, still strapped to my side. “You could shoot me dead right here if you wanted to. You could remove a monster from the world and claim self defense. It would be easy. Just press a kitchen knife into my paw and let all my files get declassified.” He shrugged. “No one would bat an eye at you once they see those pictures. They might even give you a medal.”

 

    He narrowed his eyes. “But you won’t do it. Because deep down you’re just a scared little kit. It doesn’t matter that, hypothetically I’m the only one in the tri state area who could have snuck into that elephant’s room, slid the needle into her thigh and…”

 

    I froze. “It wasn’t a needle.”

 

    Jack blinked. “What?”

 

    I narrowed my eyes. “Amaya Hathee ingested the poison that killed her. No one injected anything.” I crossed my arms and let my paw drift away from my holster. “You, my friend, are overflowing with shit.”

 

    Jack’s eyes widened. 

 

    There was a long, long pause.

 

    He took of his mask, and put it on the table. His face was… horrifically burned. 

 

    He looked up at me, his expression was impossibly haunted. “Please… Please just put me down.”

  
  
  
  


  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Remember to comment if you liked the story!


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